The Association of Magistrate and Judges Ghana (AMJG) has denied claims of superior court judges and magistrates being paid ex gratia every four years by government.

According to the Association, it has followed the discussions on the payment of ex-gratia to some Article 71 office holders and has observed with “dismay the false and malicious allegation” that judges of the Superior Courts are paid ex-gratia at the end of every four (4) years. It revealed that the claims that judges are paid ex gratia are wrong and should be ignored.

Contained in a statement signed by the President of the Association, Justice Henry Kwofie, dated June 21, 2022, it stated that the salaries of Superior Court Judges which comprises of Supreme Court Judges, Court of Appeal Judges and High Court Judges are determined once every four years by the President. It emphasized that this is further based on the recommendation of a Committee appointed by the President under Article 71(1) of the 1992 Constitution.

“The Association would like to state categorically that no Superior Court Judge is or has ever been paid ex-gratia every four years as being wrongly stated in the media.”
Association of Magistrate and Judges Ghana

Describing the allegation as “false and baseless”, it highlighted that it is only when increases are effected in the salary as a result of the recommendations of the Committee, that the judges are “then paid arrears of salary commonly called back pay arising from the back-dating of the salary increase”.

The AMJG emphasized that the arrears of salary or back pay are accordingly paid in a lump sum or instalment, as it has been the situation since 1996.

“It is this arrears of salary or back pay which is mischievously being described as ex-gratia in the press particularly on radio, television and on social media platforms by some seasoned journalist and so-called social commentators who never attempted to look for the truth.”
Association of Magistrate and Judges Ghana

Controversy surrounding ex-gratia payment to Article 71 holders

The subject of payment of ex-gratia resurfaced after a former Council of State member, Togbe Afede XIV, decided to reject over GHS 300,000 paid to him for serving on the Council for the period between 2017 and 2020.

Commenting on this, a former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Public Administration (GIMPA) Professor Stephen Adei, commended the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV, for refunding the ex-gratia. He stated that the revered traditional ruler did the right thing by returning the money.

“Togbe, congratulations, he is one of my best loved people, so, I must be very careful not to sing your praises too much. I think that he has done right. He didn’t say he is not entitled to it, he says that he feels, for what he has done, he doesn’t need it.”
Professor Stephen Adei

Prior to this, former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini, revealed that there is no such thing as ex-gratia in the constitution of Ghana. He indicated that what is often referred to as ex-gratia by the general public is the retirement benefits Members of Parliament and other Article 71 officeholders are entitled to after serving their term of office.

Mr Fuseini argued that calls for the scrapping of the retirement benefits of Article 71 officeholders are misplaced due to the fact that MPs and other Article 71 officeholders are contract workers and as such must receive their retirement benefits at the end of their tenure.