The Youth Wing of the opposition National Democratic Congress says it will challenge Parliament’s approval of salaries for the First and Second Ladies in court.
“Indeed, the Constitution never clothed the Emolument Committee any power to introduce any category of persons to benefit from the Consolidated fund without due regard to article 108.”
“It is our considered view that the Committee erred in making such recommendation. The bully approval process by the NPP majority in the last Parliament and subsequent acquiescence of President Akufo-Addo of the recommendation is an unjustifiable assault on the Constitution, which must not go unchallenged,” a statement signed by the National Youth Organiser of the party George Opare Addo said.
The party’s caucus in Parliament has also hinted it will go to court over the matter.
Speaking to the media, MP for South Dayi Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor disclosed the Minority Whip Muntaka Mubarak says the move is an illegality.
According to him, the executive was consequently asked to shelve that portion of the report.
Dafeamekpor disclosed he is in the process of filing a suit at the Supreme Court over the matter
He said “as we speak, I’m in the process of filing a writ at the Supreme Court. Hopefully, tomorrow by this time the writ would have been filed. We want to interrogate the issues, the committee had no mandate to make the kind of recommendation they did.”
“The terms of reference of the committee were to review the emoluments of Article 71 office-holders. They didn’t tell them to go and review the condition of services of a person who does not fall within Article 71 officeholders.”
He indicated that parliament could have “insisted for them to take the report back, amend and relay. But the sponsors of the report were adamant. The fact that they were adamant doesn’t mean parliament approved of it. Parliament approved what was legitimate as contained in the report.”
“So, if the president says today that because it went through parliament he’s giving the go-ahead for the recommendations to be implemented, the appropriate quarter to tackle that will be the supreme court. To determine whether or not the spouses of the president and the vice president are contemplated as Article 71 public holders as ascribed to it in the constitution,” he added.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5fm