Parliament passes
constitutional instruments on the Armed Forces
Parliament passes
constitutional instruments on the Armed Forces
Accra (Greater Accra) 11 May 2000
Parliament on Wednesday passed two
constitutional instruments on the conditions of service and welfare of officers
of the Ghana Armed Forces.
The two legislation, the Armed
Forces (Amendment) (No. 1) Regulations, 2000, C.I. 27 and Armed Forces
(Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2000, C.I. 28, come into force on Wednesday,
having been laid before the House for 21 sitting days as required by law.
In a motion for the passage of the
two instruments, Nana Akufo Addo, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on
Subsidiary Legislation, said the Armed Forces (Amendment) (No. 1) Regulations,
2000, C.I. 27 seeks to rationalise the conditions of service of officers and to
facilitate the recruitment of professionals and degree-holders into the Armed
Forces.
The C.I. 27 gives retroactive
effect of six months to the commissioning of officers with degrees or
professional qualifications.
The Armed Forces (Amendment) (No
2) Regulations 2000, C.I. 28, on the other hand, is part of a package of
measures intended to enhance the welfare of officers and their wives.
The instrument said under the
current law, a spouse can benefit from the possession of a deceased officer
only if the former was the spouse at the time that the latter was in active
service.
It said this, thus precluded
spouses who were married after the officer left the service. Nana Akufo Addo
told the House that the instrument seeks to simplify matters by providing that
the surviving spouse is eligible for the pension of the late officer if the
former was married to the officer at his or her death.
The instrument also makes
non-commissioned officers, who are appointed on short service commissions,
eligible for retirement pay and gratuity after a minimum period of service.
After the motion, the House was of
the view that the two instruments should be allowed to come into effect in
pursuant to Article 11 (7) (c) of the Constitution.
The Article states that: "Any
Order, Rule or Regulation made by a person or authority under a power conferred
by the Constitution or any other law, shall come into force at the expiration
of 21 sitting days after being laid unless Parliament, before the expiration of
the 21 days, annuls the Order, Rule or Regulation",
Earlier, two agreements and an
annual report were laid before the House. They were, Headquarters Agreement
between Ghana and the UNESCO on the establishment of UNESCO Permanent Field
Office in Ghana.
The others were, a Learning and
Innovation Loan Agreement for five million dollars between Ghana and the World
Bank for Community-Based Poverty Reduction Project (CPRP) and a report from the
Committee on Mines and Energy on the 1998 Annual Report of the Public Utilities
Regulatory Commission.
GRi…/