The Executive director for the centre for democratic development (CDD-Ghana), Professor H.
Kwesi Prempeh says the emoluments committee under article 71 has no authority to recommend payments of allowances or emoluments to first or second spouses.
President Akuffo Addo established the 5-member Ntiamoah Boadu committee in 2019 to make recommendations on salaries, allowances, and privileges for Article 71 office holders, as well as any other recommendations.
In its report, the committee recommended payments of salaries and allowances to spouses of the
president and the vice president. But professor Kwesi Prempeh says, “the committee’s powers are
limited to only article 71 office holders and therefore can’t smuggle in what has not been
provided for by the constitution.”
He also said that, “once you cannot add someone, it is not right or the committee has no authority
to even approve or recommend that such payments be made to the wives of the president and
vice president.”
He continued, “If in any case government deems it necessary to make those payments then it has
to be done right and that is by introducing a bill to parliament and it has to go through
parliamentary approval and on that bases the payments can then be effected”
Mr. Prempeh also said that if the wives of the president and vice president should enjoy from this
then the wife of the speaker of parliament and the chief justice, who are the third and fourth
gentlemen of the land should also enjoy from that.
source: 3FM
