A committee to help resolve the recurring controversies surrounding the payment of allowances and other emoluments to retiring Presidents and other office holders under Article 71 of the Constitution has been inaugurated in Accra. The five-member Presidential Emoluments Committee is charged with the responsibility to determine the salaries, allowances and privileges of the President, the Vice-President, members of the Legislature and all Article 71 office holders. In his State of the Nation Address in January this year, President J.E.A. Mills indicated that he would set up a committee to determine the emoluments of all Article 71 office holders and not wait till the end of his term to do so. The members of the committee, which is chaired by Prof Mariam Ewurama Addy, a former don of the University of Ghana, are Dr Gheysika Agambila, a former Minister of Science, Environment and Technology under the Kufuor Administration; Nana Kobina Nketsia, the Omanhene of the Esikado Traditional Area; Dr Yaw Baah of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Mrs Marian Barnor. According to Article 71 (1 and 2) of the 1992 Constitution, the Presidential Emoluments Committee shall determine the salaries and allowances payable and the facilities and privileges available to the Speaker and Deputy Speakers and Members of Parliament. Other office holders include the Chief Justice and other justices of the Superior Courts of Judicature, the Auditor-General, the Chairman and Deputy Chairmen of the Electoral Commission, the Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and his deputies and the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund. Others are the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and other members of the National Council for Higher Education, the Public Services Commission, the National Media Commission, the Lands Commission and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE). In addition, the Emoluments Committee will recommend to Parliament for determination the salaries and allowances payable and the facilities and privileges available to the President, the Vice-President, the chairman and other members of the Council of State, ministers of state and deputy ministers. Inaugurating the committee at the Castle, Osu, Tuesday, during which the members also swore the oaths of Office and Secrecy, President Mills gave the assurance that the government would not interfere with its activities. He called on the members to allow the objective conditions in the country and not their subjective views to guide them in the determination of the salaries and emoluments of office holders, as spelt out under Article 71 of the Constitution. He urged the committee to be mindful of the economic and social circumstances in the country when working out the details of the salaries of the designated office holders, stressing that economic realities should determine the levels of salaries which should be approved by the committee. He said resources in the national kitty were for all Ghanaians and the committee should bear that in mind in the discharge of the responsibility entrusted to it by the government. President Mills implored members to liaise with personalities and organisations whose job portfolios entailed the determination of salaries and allowances. Prof Addy, who spoke on behalf of the committee, thanked the President for the confidence reposed in the members and promised to work hard to meet the expectations of all, pointing out that it was an honour to serve one's country. "We promise to discharge our duties creditably, bearing in mind all the concerns which have been expressed by the President," Prof Addy remarked. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana