The Constitution Review Consultative Committee is advocating for the scrapping of Article 68 (5) of the Constitution to compel presidents to pay tax on their salaries and emoluments to set an example to the citizenry.
The committee is of the view that this change will reflect the principle of equality before the law and align with the rule of law.
This came up at a stakeholder consultation for a probable review of Ghana's Constitution.
A former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini, shed light on some recommendations of the committee.
He said, “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 committee also proposed capping the size of parliament, proposing amendments to Article 93 to ensure that parliament consists of not more than 277 elected members.
According to the committee, this would require amendments to Article 47 to ensure that the country is divided into as many constituencies as prescribed by the Electoral Commission (EC), but the number of constituencies shall not exceed 277.
Additionally, the committee wants the size of government capped to eliminate the privilege of appointing Deputy Ministers.
It suggested that the position of Regional Ministers should be abolished, similar to Deputy Ministerial positions, stating that the president should appoint as many Ministers of State as necessary for the efficient running of the state, but the number of Ministers should not exceed 25.
Credit: myjoyonline.com