Constitutional Review Committee Recommends Parliamentary Membership Capped At 277 Elected Officials

• The Constitutional Review Committee has, among other things, recommended a cap on the size of the parliament
• The committee noted that to achieve a lean government, it was necessary to prevent the House from bloating any further
• It also recommended that the necessary changes be made in the relevant constitutional provisions

The Constitutional Review Consultative Committee (CRCC) has delivered its report to President Akufo-Addo after completing its work.

Among the committee's many recommendations, it has proposed a cap on the size of parliament.

The committee recommended that parliament’s size should not exceed 277 elected members.

It settled on this number after intense deliberations.

An earlier suggestion had been to reduce the number of parliamentarians in the House by scrapping one constituency.

However, the committee realised that that would have been a difficult task as it would have affected politicians and their followers.

Also, political parties would have chafed at the idea of losing a constituency in their stronghold and would have recommended scrapping one in their opponent’s stronghold.

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This would have ultimately resulted in needless acrimony and affected parliamentary business.

Thus, parliament can be spared the acrimony by recommending an additional constituency to the 276 constituencies.

The committee also noted that an odd number was preferable to an even number.

It thus recommended that Article 93 of the 1992 Constitution be amended to reflect the change.

A similar amendment was recommended for Article 47 of the 1992 Constitution, allowing the EC to create as many constituencies as needed.

Constitutional Review Committee advocates for leaner government

YEN.com.gh reported that the committee has also suggested that the size of government be capped and that the position of deputy ministers be abolished.

It further argued that the position of regional ministers should also be scrapped. The committee also suggested that the number of ministers be capped at 25.

Members of Parliament who become ministers will be made to vacate their parliamentary seats.

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Meanwhile, the committee has also proposed that the president be made to pay taxes on salaries and emoluments.

The committee argues this is to ensure fairness and equity under the law.

Proofread by Samuel Gitonga, Copy Editor at YEN.com.gh

Source: YEN.com.gh