Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has reaffirmed his position on ex-gratia payments to Article 71 officeholders, asserting that they no longer fulfill their intended purpose.
Mr Bagbin explained that the initial purpose of these payments for certain public servants and political officeholders was to make corruption unattractive. However, he believes this objective is no longer being met.
During a public forum in Kumasi commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Fourth Republican Parliament, Speaker Bagbin highlighted that the payments were originally designed to ensure that public servants and political officeholders would have their needs met after leaving office, thus encouraging them to prioritize public interest over personal gain.
Despite this intention, Mr Bagbin acknowledged that in practice, the payments have not been effective in curbing corruption.
The Speaker voiced his support for amending Article 71 of the Constitution to abolish ex-gratia payments, which he now considers unnecessary.
“The issue of ex gratia is a very thorny issue. The founders envisaged a situation where they wanted some particular category of public servants, including political officeholders. The ex gratia is not for members of Parliament and it’s not even ex gratia, it’s gratuity.
There’s a difference between ex gratia and gratuity and it’s not for members of parliament alone. It cuts through a category of public servants and political officeholders, including auditor general, including the chairpersons of all the constitutional commissions, including ministers of state, the presidency, judiciary, and all others, it’s not just members of parliament.”
“But the concept was to assure them, because of the importance of the position they occupy, and the decisions they take on your behalf, the concept was to assure them, don’t think about yourself, think about the people you represent because, after your office, we will take care of you. So it was to assist us to contain corruption. And I’m happy that a number of industrial chiefs from this region were members of the consultative assembly.”
“Unfortunately, in practice, it has not served its purpose. It has not been able to assist us to curb or contain corruption. And so when I made an attempt to contest as a presidential candidate, I did announce that if elected as president, I was going to ensure that that article is amended from the constitution. So I agree totally with anybody who comes to say that we should do away with Article 71 of the Constitution. It hasn’t served its purpose, there’s no use maintaining it.”
