The Magistrates and Judges Association (AMJG) of Ghana has denied reports that superior court judges were paid ex-gratia every four years, even though they retire on their salaries.
Addressing a news conference in Accra yesterday, the President of the Association, Justice Henry Kwofie, described the reports as false and malicious allegation.
According to him, when there was an increment in their salaries, as a result of the recommendations of the Emolument Committee set up by the President under Article 71(1) of the 1992 Constitution, judges were only paid arrears of salaries commonly called ‘Back Pay’ arising from the back-dating of the salary increase.
He explained that these arrears of their salaries or ‘back pay’ were accordingly paid in a lump sum or instalments, and this had been the situation since 1996.
The President of the Association said it was these arrears of salary or back pay, which was being mischievously described as ex-gratia by the press, particularly on radio, television and social media platforms by some seasoned journalists and so-called social commentators who do not look for the truth. “That the Association would like to state categorically that no [a] Superior Court Judge is or has never been paid ex-gratia every four years, as [was] being wrongly stated in the media,” he stressed.
The salaries of Superior Court Judges – Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court – are determined once every four years by the President, based on an Emoluments Committee’s recommendations.
