Exactly two years ago―15^th January 2019, the now Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin― who served then as a Deputy Speaker of Parliament and a Presidential hopeful for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said in an interview that if he became president, he would scrap the payment of end-of-tenure benefits popularly termed as ex gratia, which are made to certain public office holders including the President.

“As President, I will do away with the whole idea of ex gratia because I don’t think that it’s serving the purpose for which it was established. It’s a complete waste. It’s a contract employment and the contract will identify your entitlements but not ex gratia.”
Hon. Alban Bagbin

Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana determines the payment of certain emoluments charged from the Consolidated Fund to public office holders; the salaries and allowances payable, and the facilities and privileges available to the Speaker, Deputy Speakers and members of Parliament, the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Superior Court of Judicature.

Other beneficiaries of the package include the President, the Vice-President, the Chairman and other members of the Council of State, Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers, political appointees and public servants with salaries charged to the Consolidated Fund.

Public agitations become rife and almost repetitive, to say the least, on this very subject matter at the end of service of public office holders every four years― especially regards the total amount of benefits accrued to each member of Parliament. But this very controversial issue is beyond concerns about the MPs benefits. Per the 1992 constitution noted above, MPs represent a small ‘branch on the ex gratia tree’.

According to our rough estimations, the number of public service holders entitled to such an emolument are approximately 850-1,000 public office holders, more or less (President-1; Vice-President- 1; MPs- 275; Political appointees at the Presidency- 311 (2019 presidential staff list); Ministers of State excluding MPs- approximately 50; Chief Justice-1; Justices of the Supreme Court-7; Council of State-24 (2017); other public Servants (chairman, vice-chairman and other members of public institutions designated in the constitution); former presidents of the republic.

Although each member of these offices herein listed are entitled to varying amounts as ex gratia, with the president taking the largest pay in that regard. The fact of the issue still remains that, this is a very expensive venture that the country is involved in, especially considering the current ‘economic hustle’ that people and businesses are facing generally due to the debilitating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, speculations are that all the 275 MPs who served in parliament between January 2017 and January 2021 are to receive approximately GH¢452,000 each as ex-gratia.

Nonetheless, suppose that each person holding public service on average receives about GHS300, 000 as ex gratia, the total payment will range from about GHS255, 000, 000 – GHS 300, 000,000. This huge amount of money is what will be squeezed out from the country’s coffers. And if nothing is done, this may continue at the end of the next four years, even with more huge sums adjusted for inflation.

At every material moment, the country is in need of resources to support households and families against the economic fallout of the pandemic. On that account, only about a week ago, a motion was moved on the floor of parliament to request the President to suspend the fees of tertiary students for the 2020/2021 academic year as a means of alleviating the financial burden of households who are in immense struggle paying off the fees of their wards. Already, the government has for the third time, provided some relief to households by making access to water and electricity, free.

Having expressed the commitment to scrap the ex gratia in his capacity as a former presidential aspirant and a former Deputy Speaker of Parliament, although not the president, will the third gentleman of the Republic, Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin remember his commitment and try within his power to begin this change that is obviously required?