Ex-gratia was to prevent corruption but it's no more serving the purpose — Speaker Bagbin

Speaker of Ghana's Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin

The Speaker of Ghana's Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has called for the removal of ex-gratia payments for public officials as outlined in Article 71 of the country's Constitution.

Speaking at a public forum in Kumasi to mark the 30th anniversary of Ghana's Fourth Republican Parliament, Speaker Bagbin said ex-gratia payments were originally intended to help prevent corruption by allowing officials to make decisions without seeking their self-interest.

However, he argues it has failed to achieve this goal.

“Unfortunately, in practice, it has not served its purpose. It has not been able to assist us to curb or contain corruption," Bagbin stated.

The Speaker drew a distinction between ex-gratia and gratuity payments, noting Article 71 covers gratuity for a range of public servants and political office holders, not just MPs.

But he believes it is no longer necessary.
"So I agree totally with anybody who comes to say that we should do away with Article 71 of the Constitution. It hasn’t served its purpose, there’s no use maintaining it," Bagbin noted.