A former Chief of Staff under the erstwhile Rawlings regime has described as fair, salary reviews of Article 71 office holders which include the President, his Vice, Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, as well Judges. Nana Ato Dadzie said the officers “probably deserve” the amount being quoted but was quick to add that the reviews must be situated within the general salary levels of workers in the country. As has been the routine, there has been a huge public uproar shortly after the recommendation of the Prof Ewurama Addy Presidential Commission on emolument was made public. The recommendation which was approved by Parliament pegged the president’s salary at ¢12,000, with amount ranging from ¢6,000 to ¢9,000 to be paid to Ministers of State others who doubled as Members of Parliament. The President in a statement directed the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning to withhold authorization of payment of the newly approved salary increment for the executive. He also requested Parliament to consider a review of the emoluments approved for the executive arm of government by the legislature. His statement has been described by some- PC Appiah Ofori, Mr Kofi Bentil of IMANI and Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom- as hypocritical given that the recommendations emanated from the executive before going to Parliament. They claim the president cannot pretend he did not know about the recommendations, several months after the Commission presented it to him. In an interview with Joy News, Nana Ato Dadzie proposed that the recommendations must be made public six clear months before an election. That, he believed, will give the public enough time to make their opinions known before voting. He said given the type of jobs the Article 71 officers do, they have to be paid a decent salary “so they will not have to prepare for a rainy day.” Nana Dadzie does not also see anything wrong with the President asking Parliament to review the increments. Meanwhile, Mr. Fred Oware, a second vice chairman of the New Patriotic Party and a member of the Chinery Hesse Committee, the committee that reviewed the salaries of Article 71 office holders under ex-President John Kufuor is asking for a permanent secretariat to be set up in the absence of an independent Presidential Commission. He said that will ensure institutional memory and continuity as far as emoluments for Article 71 office holders are concerned.