President Mills, Parliament: Please Remove this Yoke

The Cat is out of the bag! The CAPRICIOUS EX GRATIA YOKE stuck on the backs of poor Ghanaians, courtesy of the Chinery Hesse Committee, the Kufour Cabinet and some questionable Parliamentarians has been exposed! Thanks to the Ghanaian Chronicle, the World is now acutely aware of the infamous Presidential Retirement Package, dubbed the “obscene bill of privileges,” supposedly approved by “4th Parliament of the 4th Republic” on January 6 2009, and the contents therein,

“TWO HOUSES (1 in Accra), SIX CARS (fueled and chauffeur driven, to be replaced every 4 years), SIXTY DAYS OF PAID OVERSEAS TRAVEL (per year), ONE MILLION DOLLARS (seed money) for John Agyekum Kufour Foundation, ETC. ETC. ALL TAX FREE.”

THIS STINKS!! This stinks to High Heaven!!! The Stench is so awfully powerful that even those noses blocked by years of DENYING THE EXISTENCE OF CORRUPTION IN GHANA, can smell it without SNIFFING. The waves of the Stench are so strong that neither the vast Atlantic Ocean or the powerful Gulf Currents could prevent it from reaching worldwide shores. The BBC has already covered the story.

Since the Presidential Retirement Package, the CAPRICIOUS EX-GRACIA YOKE or “obscene bill of privileges” story broke, Ghanaians have been treated to some interesting, intriguing and in some cases, some dumb explanation or excuses by folks supposed to be knowledgeable in the country.


Deputy Majority Leader of the current Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and Mr. Austin Gameh a consultant for the Chinery Hesse Committee, are both quoted as saying that the six Vehicles provision in the Ex-Gratia package is not extravagant. They are right. The idea is not extravagant, IT IS WHIMSICAL, IT IS IRRESPONSIBLE, IT IS OUTRAGEOUS, IT UNCONSCIONABLE, IT IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE! How do these men reason? Where do they come from - MARS, JUPITER or PLUTO?

Mr. Austin Gameh reportedly stated that everything recommended by the Emolument Committee is granted by Article 68 of the 1992 Constitution. That is a bold face lie. The constitution only stipulates that whatever Ex-Gratia Parliament grants, should be TAX FREE. Please refer to the provisions of Article 68 below:

(2) The President shall not, on leaving office as President, hold any office of profit or emolument, except with the permission of Parliament, in any establishment, either directly or indirectly, other than that of the State.

(3) The President shall receive such salary, allowances and facilities as may be prescribed by Parliament on the recommendations of the committee referred to in article 71 of this Constitution.

(4) On leaving office, the President shall receive a gratuity in addition to pension, equivalent to his salary and other allowances and facilities prescribed by Parliament in accordance with clause (3) of this article.

(5) The salary, allowances, facilities, pensions and gratuity referred to in clauses (3) and (4) shall be exempt from tax.

Hon A. S. K. Bagbin the majority leader is reportedly fuming that he was not around when Parliament discussed the Emolument Bill and it took ten (10) days for him to get a copy of a bill passed by Parliament from the Hansard. 10 WHOLE DAYS FOR A MAJORITY LEADER TO RECEIVE A COPY OF A BILL? If this is true then either Hon Bagbin is INCOMPETENT or Ghana's Parliament is A JOKE. At any rate, what was done or not done is of no import at this juncture. If the Bill has been signed or ever gets signed into Law, Hon Bagbin must re-introduce it to Parliament for a repeal. That is his duty!!

Hon John Tia, the former Minority Chief Whip, is quoted to have said: “You can't come and be President and leave office poor, that is why some of the Heads of State do not want to leave power.” That is the dumbest statement ever uttered by an MP on policy. No wonder Dr. Tony Aidoo, his fellow NDC party comrade has called it for what it really is, “SHEER NONSENSE”

Hon. Appiah Ofori Member of Parliament for Asikuma Odoben Brakwa, is quoted as describing Parliament's passage of the much publicized CAPRICIOUS EX-GRATIA YOKE or “obscene bill of privileges” as fraudulent. He is threatening Court Action. It will be interesting to see his Law Suite go through the Courts. A Precedence like that is surely guaranteed to go down in the Annals of History.

The most disturbing pronouncement surrounding the CAPRICIOUS EX-GRACIA YOKE being imposed upon poor Ghanaians are attributable to Ms Hanna Tetteh, spokesperson of President Mills' transitional team. She reportedly said initially “Parliament has passed it, we can`t do anything about it,” then came back with “the government transitional team together with parliament will sit again to discuss the issue .”

For a Presidential spokesperson, Ms Tetteh seem to be displaying an absolute ignorance of the 1992 Constitution. BILLS IN GHANA DON'T BECOME LAW UNTIL THE PRESIDENT SIGNS THEM. Has either President Kufour or President Mills signed this Bill into Law? If signed then Ms. Hanna Tetteh should be telling Ghanaians when and who signed the Bill.

If President Kufour did not sign the Bill, President Mills can send it back to Parliament for a re-consideration with his recommendations. Parliament will need a two-third majority to override a Presidential objection and force the President to sign the Bill into Law. No where in the Constitution is the President required to sit down with Parliament and discuss a BAD BILL.

Another available remedy if the Bill has been signed by a president, is for any member of parliament to re-introduce it in the House for Amendment. The Member will have to explain what is wrong with the Bill and provide an improved version of it for consideration.

Strange as this may sound to Ghanaian ears, Kwadwo Mpiani, the Machiavellian Presenter of the CAPRICIOUS EX-GRATIA YOKE in Parliament is the only person so far that seem to know what he is talking about Constitutionally. He is correct when he states that, “Parliament has the right to make laws, amend them, or take away laws from its books” so:

President John Atta Mills should please stop playing mute. The nation needs to know if himself or his predecessor accented to the bill, and or what he intends to do if it has or ever comes to his desk:

The Presidential spokesperson Ms. Tetteh should take some time off and read the Constitution before her next pronouncement(s) on similar issues

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