North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has called for a total review of emoluments for article 71 officeholders.

“It is time to have a major review, a total overhaul of this whole Article 71 arrangement; it is not sustainable,” he said.

Article 71 office holders include the President, Vice President, Ministers, MPs, heads of independent commissions, and senior judiciary members.

In an interview with JoyNews, Mr Ablakwa suggested creating new transparent, justifiable and acceptable emoluments for public officials.

“I have long held the view that it is time to carry out a major, urgent overhaul of the entire article 71 creation which has led to an apartheid regime. We have to be brutally frank about this.”

According to him, “it has not augured well for our democracy, and it creates the sense that there is a particular class which is all about themselves and they just want to feed fat at the expense of the suffering masses.”

Meanwhile, the Ntiahmoah-Baidu Committee recommended emoluments for Article 71 officeholders and expressed concern about the widening inequality gap between their salaries and public sector workers under the Single Spine salary structure.

In 2016, the average public sector worker earned about 6% of the monthly average salary of Article 71 officeholders.