The Mahama administration has paid Members of Parliament their constitutional emoluments for the period 2021 to 2025 but has withheld similar payments to the former president, vice president, executive members and Council of State, raising questions about selective implementation of Article 71 provisions.
Parliament confirmed through a Right to Information (RTI) response that MPs and the Speaker received their ex gratia payments, while former executive branch officials remain unpaid more than nine months after President John Dramani Mahama assumed office on January 7, 2025.
The disclosure emerged from an RTI application submitted by Ghanaian citizen Kofi Asare on October 7, 2025. Parliament’s response, dated October 14 and signed by Camillo Pwamang, Deputy Clerk of the Legislative and Management Services, revealed the striking disparity in payment patterns.
Parliament stated it transmitted the formal determination of Article 71 emoluments made at its 399th sitting on January 6, 2025 to the President on the same date. However, regarding payments to former executive officials, Parliament indicated it “has not received confirmation from either the Ministry of Finance or the Controller and Accountant General’s Department regarding the implementation of the Article 71 Emolument determined by Parliament for the period January 2021 to January 2025”.
The parliamentary response added that it had “received releases from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department reflecting the emoluments determined by the President for the same period”, confirming that legislators have been fully compensated while former president Nana Akufo Addo, his vice president, ministers and Council of State members have not.
Article 71 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution establishes the framework for determining salaries, allowances and benefits for specific public officeholders including the president, vice president, ministers, parliamentarians, judges and members of constitutional bodies. These officials typically receive their accumulated emoluments at the end of each four year term.
The selective payment pattern gains significance given President Mahama’s campaign promise in March 2023 to scrap ex gratia payments to executive branch members under Article 71, stating “the necessary constitutional steps to abolish that payment will start in earnest in 2025”.
President Mahama has refused to respond to a similar RTI request submitted to his office seeking information about the status of Article 71 emoluments for the 2021 to 2025 period. The application was submitted on October 7, 2025, but the presidency failed to respond within the statutory 14 day requirement under section 23(1) of the Right To Information Act, 2019.
After the initial deadline expired, the applicant filed for internal review on October 24, 2025 under section 32 of the RTI Act, but as of October 30, there had been no response to either the original request or the review application.
In his internal review application, the citizen outlined four grounds challenging the presidency’s silence. These included failure to comply with statutory obligations, contravention of the constitutional right to information under Article 21(1)(f), the clear public interest nature of information concerning public expenditure, and undermining of constitutional principles of transparency and accountability.
The applicant specifically requested information about whether the former president, vice president, Council of State chairman and members, ministers, deputy ministers and other Article 71 officeholders received their determined emoluments, including payment dates or expected timelines. He also sought any correspondence, releases or approvals from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department regarding implementation of these payments.
The Ministry of Finance has similarly declined to provide the requested information, mirroring the presidency’s non response on what the applicant characterized as matters of clear public interest.
The controversy unfolds against broader public debate about ex gratia payments to politicians. After every four years, huge sums are paid to certain public officials as back pay and retirement benefits pursuant to Article 71, a practice that has generated considerable controversy particularly during Ghana’s current economic challenges.
Under Ghana’s constitutional framework, Parliament determines emoluments for the executive branch including the president and his appointees, while the president determines benefits for other Article 71 officeholders including parliamentarians, judges and constitutional body heads.
The RTI Act requires public institutions to determine applications and communicate decisions within 14 days of receipt. Internal reviews must be determined “as soon as is reasonably practicable” but no later than 15 days after receipt. The applicant indicated he would pursue redress through the Right to Information Commission if the presidency continued its silence.
The selective payment pattern raises legal and political questions about implementation of constitutional provisions, transparency in public expenditure and whether the administration is using payment withholding as a de facto policy change without formal constitutional amendment.
Neither the presidency, Ministry of Finance nor Controller and Accountant General’s Department has publicly explained the rationale for paying parliamentary emoluments while withholding executive branch payments, leaving the discrepancy unexplained nearly ten months into the Mahama administration.
