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Mr. SK Boafo, one of the retired MPs who left the court premises on Thursday morning after the court session
The Supreme Court has ruled that retired parliamentarians have no constitutional right to receive a pension.
Rather, the court held that retired MPs are entitled to gratuities (which the court described as lump sum payments) as stipulated in Article 114 of the 1992 constitution, reports Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson of Graphic Online.
In a unanimous decision on Thursday, December 3, 2020, a seven-member panel of the supreme court held that the Chinnery-Hesse Committee that recommended the payment of pensions to parliamentarians who retired between 2005 and 2008 acted unconstitutionally.
“Through the combined reading of article 71 (3), 98 (1) and article 114 of the 1992 Constitution, the Chinnery-Hesse Committee acted unconstitutionally,” the court held.
Constitutional reference
The higher court decision that was interpreted by Judge Sule Gbadegbe, as his dismissal sentence, was in relation to a constitutional reference made by the Court of Appeal to the higher court.
The Court of Appeal is hearing an appeal from 43 former retired MPs who are fighting for pension payments in accordance with Chinnery-Hesse’s recommendation.
Background
In 2017, the former deputies sued the government in Superior Court for GH ₵ 233,495 each, which is their accumulated monthly pension.
The basis for the legal action of the 40 former deputies was the Chinnery-Hesse Presidential Emoluments Committee (PEC), which states that parliamentarians who were 50 years old or older and left Parliament, after having served two full terms, must receive some sums of money as retirement benefits.
The following video shows Mr. SK Boafo, a former Subin MP in the Ashanti region speaking with Graphic Online
Some notable names among the 40 former MPs who initiated the legal action are Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, Dr. Kwame Ampofo, Mr. Kwamina Bartels, Mr. Freddie Blay, Mr. Kenneth Dzirasah, Ms. Christine Churcher, Mr. Isaac E. Edumadze (deceased) and Messrs. Nkrabea Effah-Darteh, David Apesera and SK Boafo.
The former deputies lost a lawsuit in the High Court and appealed to the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal decided to make a constitutional reference to the Supreme Court to decide whether, according to the 1992 Constitution, retired deputies were entitled to a pension.
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