Article 71 must be deleted entirely from constitution – Inusah Fuseini

A former Chairman of the Legal Constitutional Committee of Parliament, Inusah Fuseini, is calling for the abolishment of Article 71 as inherent in the constitution of Ghana.

Article 71 of the Constitution of Ghana, spells out that the salaries and allowances of Article 71 office holders, be determined by the President, on the recommendations of a committee of not more than five persons appointed by him and acting upon the advice of the Council of State.

The Article 71 officeholders include the President, the Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice, and the Justices of the Supreme Court.

But Mr Fuseini told Samson Lardy Anyenini on Newsfile on Saturday that the conditions stated in Article 71 created room for discrimination against some public officers.

According to him, Article 71 officeholders are also public officers, and the provisions of Article 71 enabled the Article 71 officeholders to receive preferential treatment.

This, he pointed out, contradicted Article 17 of the Constitution, which spells out that there must be equality before the law, thus his advocating for the removal of Article 71.

The lawyer, while contributing to a discussion on Newsfile, Saturday, April 1, told the host, Samson Lardy Anyenini, “Article 71 should be deleted in its entirety because it appears to me to be it is inconsistent with article 17 of the constitution, which deals with non-discrimination.

“All officers under article 71 are public officers, and so there should not be discrimination between the Article 71 office holders and all other office holders,” he added.

Additionally, Mr Fuseini stated that he believed that the Independent Emolument Committee has been recommended by the constitution review committee for Article 71 to be examined and substituted with a different arrangement.

SOURCE: Myjoyonline