Constitutional Review: Persons with disabilities propose retiring on their salaries 

Some persons living with disabilities (PwDs) have proposed a review of the country’s Constitution to guarantee them retirement from their salaries. 

Madam Ayishetu Abubakar, a member of the Northern Regional Chapter of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations (GFD), who made the proposal, emphasised it would promote equity and enhance social protection for vulnerable groups in the country. 

She argued that just as Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution guaranteed full salary pensions for specific public office holders including former Presidents, Speakers of Parliament, Chief Justices, and Supreme Court Judges, a similar provision should be extended to cover PwDs. 

She presented the proposal during the Constitutional Review Committee’s zonal consultation in Tamale to receive views from members of the public to inform its work on the review of the Constitution. 

The zonal consultation was attended by representatives from the public sector, civil society organisations, labour unions amongst other stakeholders. 

Some members of the Constitutional Review Committee, who were present during the event, were Professor Kwasi Prempeh, Chairman, Professor Kwame Karikari, Dr Rainer Akumperigya, Secretary, Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko, and Dr Godwin Dzokoto. 

Mr Abdul-Shakun Alhassan, Ghana National Association of the Deaf also proposed the introduction of a constitutional provision that would allow the direct disbursement of the District Assemblies Common Fund to PwD beneficiaries instead of channeling the funds through the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. 

He explained that the current disbursement process was overly bureaucratic, inconvenient, and burdensome for members, and added that direct payments would improve transparency and boost confidence in the management of the fund. 

Other key proposals raised at the meeting included transforming the Council of State into a second legislative chamber, reducing the number of Members of Parliament from 276 to 200, and reducing the age for qualifying to contest elections as President from 40 to 35. 

They also proposed scrapping the Office of the Regional Minister and allowing District Chief Executives to report directly to the Ministry of Local Government, abolishing ex-gratia for government appointees and increasing the retirement age from 60 to 65 years. 

Other recommendations included need to introduce a constitutional provision to regulate campaign financing for greater accountability and sustainable development and maintaining the current provision that barred chiefs from active participation in partisan politics to safeguard the integrity of the chieftaincy institution. 

The issue of limiting Members of Parliament to a maximum of two terms in office to ensure efficiency and accountability was also proposed at the meeting. 

Professor Prempeh commended the stakeholders for their contributions describing them as valuable and encouraged the citizenry to actively engage in the constitutional review process to ensure their views were adequately captured. 

Source: GNA 

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