Charlotte Kesson-Smith Osei, a member of the Constitution Review Committee (CRC), has explained why the committee stopped short of making a definitive recommendation to abolish ex gratia payments in its recently presented report.
The CRC’s report, submitted to the President on Monday, December 22, marks a significant step in Ghana’s ongoing constitutional reform process, with the full and final report expected to be released in January.
Speaking on the committee’s handling of Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution, which governs public emoluments, Ms Osei said the CRC recognised the long-standing controversy surrounding ex gratia payments but deliberately chose a broader, systemic approach rather than an outright abolition.
“This issue has appeared in every previous report. We decided to adopt a holistic approach through a one-stop Public Emoluments Commission, such as the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission. This allows us to address ex gratia payments and other concerns in a fair and comprehensive manner, rather than simply abolishing arrangements without providing a practical alternative,” she explained.
“It is not just a matter of picking one aspect and saying ‘scrap it.’ When you remove an existing arrangement, what replaces it? We were very mindful not to create problems while trying to solve existing problems. If we do not have the expertise to set emoluments ourselves, it is logical to leave that to the experts,” Ms Osei said.
According to her, the committee favoured the creation of a single Public Emoluments Commission, which would absorb the functions of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, to ensure fairness, transparency and consistency in the determination of public sector pay.
Ms Osei explained that such a framework would allow ex gratia payments to be addressed alongside other public remuneration issues, instead of adopting what she described as a piecemeal solution.
“We decided that we will go with a one-stop Public Emoluments Commission… to deal with Ex gratia and have a system that is fair to all and makes sense, rather than picking and saying stop Ex gratia, stop the Presidential Emoluments Committee,” she added.
She noted that the proposal is aimed at streamlining the administration of public pay and reducing the recurrent controversies that emerge around ex gratia payments during every electoral cycle.
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