Constitutional Review Consultative Committee proposes capping size of Parliament

The government-appointed Constitutional Review Consultative Committee, Thursday proposed capping the size of Parliament.

The 12-member Committee, chaired by Madam Clara K. Kesser-Tee, and a representative of the University of Ghana School of Law, explained that consequential amendments to Article 93 of the 1992 Constitution were required to ensure that Parliament had not more than 277 elected Members.

Ghana’s Parliament currently has 275 Members of Parliament (MPs), with 137 in both the Majority and Minority caucuses and one independent MP.

Participants in the day-long stakeholder consultation for the possible review of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in Parliament House, in Accra, on Thursday also recommended that the size of government be limited and the power to appoint Deputy Ministers be removed.

It was on the theme: “Building Consensus and Promoting Ownership for the Review of the 1992 Constitution.”

Reading the highlights of the Committee’s report, Mr. Inusah Fuseni, a former National Democratic Congress MP for Tamale Central, said the Committee believed that such a move would necessitate amendments to Article 47 to ensure that Ghana was divided into as many constituencies for the purpose of MP election as the Electoral Commission (EC) may specify, but that the number of constituencies should ot exceed 277.

“It proposes that Regional Ministers, like Deputy Ministers, be abolished.

“The President shall appoint as many Ministers of State as may be required to ensure the state’s efficient operation. However, the number of Ministers is limited to 25,” the report said.

The Committee also proposed repealing Article 68 (5) of the 1992 Constitution to ensure the President pay taxes on his salary and emoluments as an example to the rest of the citizenry.

The Committee believed that the change would reflect the principle of equality before the law and adhere to the rule of law.

“They say that it flouts equity rules, where the President receives money from the public purse and does not pay tax on his emoluments. They recommended an amendment to the Constitution to allow the President to pay tax on his earnings,” the report noted.

GNA