Emoluments Committee holds last consultative meeting
The Presidential Committee on Emoluments (PCE) yesterday held its third and final consultative forum on the salaries of Article 71 office holders in Accra.
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The five-member committee, chaired by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Cape Coast, Professor Dora Francisca Edu-Boando, has been tasked to produce a report that will not only ensure equity and fairness to Article 71 office holders but also be acceptable to the public.
The other members of the committee are Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi, Dr William Baah Boateng, Mrs Norkor Duah and Mrs Lydia Bawa.
The committee, which was inaugurated by President John Mahama in January 2016, has a trade unionist, Mr Napoleon Kpoh, a consultant and Rudolf Kuuzegh as secretary.
Article 71 office holders
Article 71 office holders include the President, the Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court.
The rest are Members of Parliament (MPs), Ministers of State, political appointees and public servants with salaries charged to the Consolidated Fund but enjoying special constitutional privileges.
The forum brought together representatives of various groupings, professions and associations with varied expertise from the Volta, Central, Western and the Greater Accra regions to articulate the views and concerns of their constituents.
The first in the series was held in Tamale to cater for the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, while the second was held in Kumasi for the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Eastern regions.
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Setting the tone for the deliberation, Mr Kpoh recalled the public outcry that greeted the Chinery-Hesse-led PCE and said he was inclined to believe that the public was very much interested in the emoluments of those who were remunerated from the public purse.
He, therefore, urged the participants to actively contribute to the work of the committee to enable it to produce a reliable document.
Various PCEs
Since the inception of the 1992 Constitution, there have been five different PCEs appointed by the various Presidents at different times during their tenure to determine the salaries of Article 71 office holders.
Various recommendations have been made by the committees on pay, allowances, facilities and retirement benefits for those office holders while in or out of office.
Mr Kpoh said the fact that different bodies determined emoluments and other conditions of service for public service employees and political office holders through different procedures and processes might have contributed to the controversy over inequity in salary and wage administration in the public sector.
Broad-based consultations
Prof. Edu-Boando explained that the composition of the committee was deliberate, in order to tap the views of a cross-section of the public because “this issue affects every Ghanaian”.
She urged the participants to be frank with discussions devoid of political leaning, ethnic background and religious beliefs but work towards enhancing the growth of democracy in the country.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, who welcomed the participants, urged them to share their respective experiences and expertise, bearing in mind the limited resources and the development challenges facing the country.