Persons Living with Disabilities (PWLDs) in the Northern Region have called for a constitutional amendment that would guarantee full-salary pensions for working members of their community, similar to the retirement benefits enjoyed by Article 71 officeholders.

The proposal was presented during a stakeholder consultation in Tamale as part of the ongoing constitutional review exercise, which drew participants from government agencies, youth groups, and civil society organisations.

Ayishetu Abubakari, a member of the Northern Regional Chapter of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations, said the proposal was rooted in the need for equity and social protection.

“If this provision is successful, it wouldn’t only enhance social protection for people like us but also promote equity in society,” she said.

She added that the current constitutional arrangement under Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution should not benefit only a select group of public officials, such as former Presidents, Vice
Presidents, Speakers of Parliament, Chief Justices, Supreme Court Judges, and Members of Parliament.

“For us, we propose that Article 71 should be extended to include members of our association who are part of the working class, with a guarantee of full-salary pensions just like other public officeholders,” Madam Ayishetu stated.

In a related appeal, Mr Alhassan Shakun of the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD) proposed that the disbursement of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) for persons with disabilities should be made directly to beneficiaries, rather than through the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

He argued that the current system is “overly bureaucratic, inconvenient and burdensome,” and that direct disbursements would enhance transparency and restore confidence in the use of the funds.

The Tamale engagement also saw several other proposals, including:

• Converting the Council of State into a second legislative chamber
• Merging the Office of the Special Prosecutor with the Office of the Attorney General
• Reducing the number of Members of Parliament from 275 to 200
• Scrapping the Office of the Regional Minister and making MMDCEs directly accountable to the Ministry of Local Government
• Abolishing ex gratia for government appointees
• Raising the retirement age from 60 to 65 years
• Regulating campaign financing to improve accountability
• Maintaining the constitutional provision that bars chiefs from partisan politics to safeguard the chieftaincy institution

Chairman of the Constitutional Review Committee, Professor Henry Kwesi Prempeh, lauded participants for their insightful contributions and urged citizens to remain actively engaged in the review process to ensure their views are fully reflected in the final reforms.