CJA petition against ex-presidents’ ex gratia

MEMBERS of the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), a pressure group, yesterday staged a demonstration through some principal streets of Accra to demand a review of the retirement package recommended by the Chinery-Hesse Committee for ex-Presidents and other public officials.
The members, dressed in red and white apparels, converged on the Freedom and Justice Park at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle before hitting the streets at 9 a.m.
They walked from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle amidst singing and dancing through the Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), the Ministries and finally to the Castle, Osu, where they presented a petition to the President.
The Chief of Staff, Mr John Henry Martey Newman, received the petition on behalf of President John Atta Mills.
The members held placards some of which read: Our MPs have failed us; Kufuor wants to chop nyafu nyafu; The abaa for Rawlings, the same for Kufuor; and President Mills, make Ghana corruption-free”. A big banner read: CJA against greedy Presidential Benefit: Ye’Ntumi Ntua.
A contingent of policemen from the Accra Regional Police Command provided security for the demonstrators who restricted themselves to the routes outlined by the police.
The National Convenor of the CJA, Mr Kwesi Adu, who presented the petition, said the CJA was deeply concerned that in the face of the poor state of the national economy and the high levels of poverty among the vast majority of the people, the Chinery-Hesse Committee had recommended such high levels of emoluments and retirement benefits for some categories of public office holders.
The package, he said, would cost the nation several trillions of cedis at a time when resources were needed to cater for the needs of the people, such as good health, education, jobs and potable water.
“We of the CJA believe that public service must not become a self-serving exercise designed to feather the nest of the elite. On the contrary, public office holders must serve the interest and meet the aspirations of the people,” he stated, and expressed hope that the President would give consideration to the petition as a demonstration of his commitment to the principles of equity and prudence in the allocation of public resources.
Mr Newman assured the CJA that President Mills, who believed in accountability and good governance, would, in his good judgement, address the concerns raised in the petition accordingly within the confines of the law.
The CJA, in its petition, appealed to the President “not to implement the Chinery-Hesse Report, set up a committee to review the report with a view to recommending reasonable retirement benefits for public officials, including ex-Presidents Kufuor and Jerry John Rawlings”.
It also called on the President “to submit the approved report to Parliament for consideration and to institute a broad framework for pay and benefits for public officers for the long term”.
A leading member of the CJA, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr, thanked the police for their support and co-operation in the course of the demonstration.