PUBLIC SERVICES COMMISSION ACT,
1994 (ACT 482)
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section
PART I—ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC
SERVICES COMMISSION AND ITS
FUNCTIONS
1. The Public Services Commission
2. Qualification of members
3. Terms and conditions of service
of members
4. Functions of the Commission
5. Independence of Commission
6. Meetings of the Commission
PART II—THE PUBLIC SERVICES AND
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
7. Composition of the public
services
8. Appointment of public officers
9. Staff of the Commission
10. Request for information
11. Powers of entry and inspection
12. Failure to comply with request
of Commission
13. Privilege from disclosures in
Legal proceedings
14. Expenditure of Commission
15. Annual report
16. Regulations
17. Interpretation
SCHEDULE
Schedule
THE FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SECOND
ACT OF THE PARLIAMENT OF THE
REPUBLIC OF GHANA
ENTITLED
THE PUBLIC SERVICES COMMISSION
ACT, 1994
AN ACT to provide for the
establishment of the Public
Services Commission for the
purposes of Chapter Fourteen of
the Constitution and for other
related purposes.
DATE OF ASSENT: 31ST AUGUST, 1994
BE IT ENACTED by Parliament as
follows—
PART I—ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC
SERVICES COMMISSION AND ITS
FUNCTIONS
Section 1—The Public Services
Commission.
(1) There is established by this
Act a Public Services Commission,
in this Act referred to as “the
Commission”.
(2) The Commission shall consist
of—
(a) a Chairman, a Vice-chairman
and three other members who shall
be full-time members of the
Commission;
(b) the Chairman of the National
Council for Tertiary Education;
and
(c) three other persons with
extensive experience in the
operation of the Public Services.
(3) The President shall acting in
consultation with the Council of
State appoint the Chairman and the
other members of the Commission.
(4) Members appointed under
paragraphs (b) and (c) of
subsection (2) of this section
shall hold office on part-time
basis only and shall hold office
for such period as shall be
specified in their letters of
appointment.
Section 2—Qualification of
Members.
(1) A person does not qualify to
be appointed a member of the
Commission—
(a) if he is not qualified to be
elected as a member of Parliament;
or
(b) if he is otherwise
disqualified from holding a public
office.
(2) A person holding a public
office shall, upon being appointed
a full-time member of the
Commission, resign from that
office.
Section 3—Terms and Conditions of
Service of Members.
(1) Subject to subsection (3) of
this section, the terms and
conditions of service including
retiring ages of a Justice of the
Court of Appeal shall apply to the
Chairman of the Commission and
those of a Justice of the High
Court shall apply to the
Vice-Chairman.
(2) The salaries, allowances,
facilities and privileges payable
or available to the members of the
Commission other than the
Chairman, Vice-Chairman and the
full-time members, shall be
determined by the President in
accordance with article 71 of the
Constitution.
(3) The provisions of article 146
of the Constitution relating to
the removal from office of a
Justice of the Superior Court of
Judicature shall apply to the
full-time members of the
Commission and to any other member
before the expiration of his
tenure of office.
(4) A member of the Commission
other than an ex officio member
may resign his office by a letter
addressed to the President.
(5) No member of the Commission
shall serve as a member of a
governing council of any of the
public services listed in the
Schedule to this Act.
Section 4—Functions of the
Commission.
The functions of the Commission
are—
(a) to advise Government on the
criteria for appointment to public
offices as well as persons to hold
or act in public offices;
(b) to promote efficiency,
accountability and integrity in
the Public Services;
(c) to prescribe appropriate
systems and procedures for the
management of personnel records
within the Public Services;
(d) to identify, explore and
promote the recruitment of
suitable personnel into the Public
Services acting in collaboration
with educational authorities;
(e) to undertake planning of the
manpower requirements of the
Public Services, using data from
the educational institutions and
other sources;
(f) to improve recruitment
policies and techniques by
introducing modern methods of
judging suitability of officers;
(g) to conduct examinations and
interviews for appointments to
posts and for promotions in the
Public Services or within public
corporations to ensure uniformity
of standards of selection and
qualifications;
(h) to provide a standard
framework for evaluating and
classifying jobs in the Public
Services;
(i)
to review the organization,
structure and manpower
requirements of agencies and
bodies in the Public Services and
advise Government on such manpower
rationalization as may be
necessary for maximum utilization
of human resources in the Public
Services;
(j) to oversee the human
resources development activities
of the Public Services
organizations to ensure career
planning and career development in
the Public Services;
(k) to advise Government on the
principles and procedures for
determining salaries and other
conditions of service within the
Public Services;
(l) to prescribe a standard
framework for the provision of
incentive schemes to promote
higher productivity;
(m) to conduct in collaboration
with training institutions,
personnel research into human
resources management in the Public
Services in order to improve
personnel practices and their
utilization in the Public
Services; and
(n) to perform any other duties
assigned to it under the
Constitution or any other
enactment.
Section 5—Independence of
Commission.
Except as otherwise provided in
the Constitution, or any other law
not inconsistent with the
Constitution, the Commission shall
not be subject to the control or
direction of any person or
authority in the performance of
its functions.
Section 6—Meetings of the
Commission.
(1) Every meeting of the
Commission shall be presided over
by the Chairman, or in his
absence, the Vice-Chairman and in
the absence of both the Chairman
and Vice-Chairman by a full-time
member elected from among the
members present.
(2) There shall be working
meetings and plenary meetings of
the Commission.
(3) The Chairman or Vice-Chairman
and two full-time members of the
Commission shall form a quorum for
a working meeting.
(4) The Chairman or the
Vice-Chairman and any two
full-time members of the
Commission and two part-time
members shall constitute a quorum
for a plenary meeting.
(5) All decisions of the
Commission shall be by a majority
of members present and voting at
the meeting of the Commission
except that where there is
equality of votes the Chairman or
the person presiding shall have a
second or casting vote.
(6) The validity of any
proceedings of the Commission
shall not be affected by any
vacancy among its members or any
defect in their qualification or
appointment.
(7) Except as otherwise provided
in this Act, the Commission shall
determine the procedure for its
meetings.
PART II—THE PUBLIC SERVICES AND
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Section 7—Composition of the
Public Services.
(1) The public services of Ghana
include—
(a) the Civil
Service;
the Judicial Service;
the Audit Service;
the Audit Service;
the Education Service;
the Prisons Service;
the Parliamentary Service;
the Health Service;
the Statistical Service;
the National Fire Service;
the Customs, Excise and Preventive
Service;
the Internal Revenue Service;
the Police Service;
the Immigration Service; and
the Legal Service;
(b) public corporations other than
those set up as commercial
ventures;
(c) public services established by
the Constitution; and
(d) such other public services as
Parliament may by law prescribe.
(2) The Civil Service shall, until
provision is otherwise made by
Parliament, comprise service in
both central and local government.
(3) For the purpose of this
section "public corporation" means
a public corporation established
by an Act of Parliament other than
one set up as a commercial
venture.
Section 8—Appointment of Public
Officers.
(1) Subject to the provisions of
the Constitution, the power to
appoint persons to hold or to act
in an office in the Public
Services shall vest in the
President, acting in accordance
with the advice of the governing
council of the service concerned
given in consultation with the
Commission.
(2) The President may, subject to
such conditions as he may think
fit, delegate some of his
functions under this section by
directions in writing to the
governing council concerned or to
a committee of the council or to a
member of that governing council
or to any public officer.
(3) The governing councils of the
public services listed in the
Schedule to this Act shall consult
the Commission in matters of
appointments of persons to hold
office in the relevant public
service except otherwise provided
in the Constitution.
(4) The Commission may amend the
Schedule to this Act by
regulations under section 16.
Section 9—Staff of the Commission.
(1) There shall be a Secretary to
the Commission who shall be
appointed in accordance with
section 8 of this Act.
(2) The Secretary is not a member
of the Commission.
(3) The Secretary shall be
responsible to the Commission for
the day-to-day administration of
the secretariat of the Commission
and shall keep records of meetings
of the Commission.
(4) The Secretary and other staff
of the Commission shall be public
servants and shall not be
transferred or seconded without
the consent of the Commission.
(5) The Commission may use the
services of consultants and
advisers when necessary.
Section 10—Request for
Information.
(1) The Commission may, in
exercise of its functions under
this Act request any public
officer, public corporation or
public board, to supply relevant
information or data on his or its
work and such a request shall be
binding on the person or
organization concerned.
(2) The Commission may require any
public officer to attend and give
evidence before it concerning any
matter which it requires to
consider in exercise of its
functions under this Act.
(3) The Commission may require the
production of any official
document relevant to the exercise
of its functions; and any public
officer who submits any matter for
the consideration of the
Commission shall ensure that all
relevant documents and papers are
made available to the Commission.
(4) A public officer shall not
under this section be required to
produce or disclose any
information which he would be
entitled to refuse to produce or
disclose under any existing
enactment.
Section 11—Powers of Entry and
Inspection.
(1) A member or officer of the
Commission, when authorised by the
Commission, may enter any premises
of a Ministry, Department, office
of a Regional Co-ordinating
Council, office of a District
Assembly or any public office and
inspect and make copies of any
records or documents kept there.
(2) A person who enters any
premises in pursuance of
sub-section (1) of this section
shall on demand produce a document
of is identification authenticated
by the Commission.
(3) A public servant shall, where
requested, assist the member or
officer in the exercise of his
powers under sub-section (1) of
this section and give such
information in relation to any
matter within his knowledge or
under his control as the member or
officer may reasonably require.
Section 12—Failure of Comply with
Request of Commission.
A
public officer who without
reasonable excuse fails to appear
before the Commission when
notified to do so, or who fails to
comply with any request lawfully
and properly made by or on behalf
of the Commission or who obstructs
the Commission or any member or
officer of the Commission in the
performance of his functions under
this section shall be guilty of
misconduct.
Section 13—Privilege from
Disclosures in Legal Proceedings.
(1) Any report, statement or
record of any meeting, inquiry or
proceedings which—
(a) the Commission may make in
exercise of its functions;
(b) any member or officer of the
Commission may make in the
performance of his duties shall be
privileged in that its production
may not be compelled in any legal
proceedings unless the Supreme
Court certifies that the
production is in the public
interest.
(2) Any communication—
(a) sent to the Commission on a
matter with which the Commission
is concerned;
(b) sent by the Commission to a
public servant in his official
capacity shall be privileged in
that its production may not be
compelled in any legal proceedings
unless the Supreme Court certifies
that the production is in the
public interest.
Section 14—Expenditure of
Commission.
Parliament shall annually
appropriate such monies as it
considers necessary to meet the
expenditure of the Commission.
Section 15—Annual Report.
The Commission shall within three
months after 31st December in each
year submit to the President a
report giving details of the
administration of the Public
Services during the previous
twelve months.
Section 16—Regulations.
(1) The Commission may, subject to
the approval of the President, by
constitutional instrument make
regulations for the effective and
efficient performance of its
functions under this Act or any
other law.
(2) Regulations made by the
Commission shall be issued under
the hand of the Chairman or in his
absence that of the Vice-Chairman.
Section 17—Interpretation.
In this Act unless the context
otherwise requires—
"full-time member" means a member
of the Commission appointed under
section 1 (2)
(a) of this Act;
"governing council" includes
boards of directors or governing
bodies howsoever described;
"plenary meeting" means joint
meetings of the full-time
Commissioners and part-time
Commissioners convened to discuss
broad issues;
"public office" includes an office
the emoluments attached to which
are paid directly from the
Consolidated Fund or directly out
of moneys provided by Parliament
and an office in a public
corporation established entirely
out of public funds or moneys
provided by Parliament;
"public service" includes service
in any civil office of Government,
the emoluments attached to which
are paid directly from the
Consolidated Fund or directly out
of moneys provided by Parliament
and service in a public
corporation;
"working meeting" means meeting
convened for normal transaction of
the business of the Commission,
attended only by full-time
Commissioners.
SCHEDULE
(Section 8 (3))
Public Services ..
.. .. ..
Governing Council
Civil Service ..
.. .. ..
Civil Service Council
Audit Service ..
.. .. ..
Audit Service Board
Parliamentary Service
.. .. ..
Parliamentary Service
Board
National Fire Service
.. .. ..
National Fire Service
Board
Health Service ..
.. .. ..
Health Service Council
Customs, Excise and Preventive
Service Customs, Excise and
Preventive Service Board
Internal Revenue
Service ..
.. Internal Revenue Service
Board
The Ghana Education Service
.. .. Ghana Education
Service Council
Immigration Service
.. .. ..
Immigration Service Board
Legal Service ..
.. .. ..
Legal Service Board
Non-commercial Public
Corporations .. Board of
Directors
Extra-Ministerial Organizations
.. .. Governing
Bodies
State Media Corporations
.. .. Governing Bodies
of the respective
Corporations
National Media Commission ..
.. National Media
Commission
National Commission for Human
Rights National Commission for
Human Rights and
and Administrative Justice
Administrative Justice
National Commission for Civic
Education National Commission for
Civic Education
Serious Fraud Office
.. .. ..
Serious Fraud Office
Board
National Council for Tertiary
Education National Council
for Tertiary Education
Minerals Commission ..
.. .. Minerals
Commission
Electoral Commission ..
.. .. Electoral
Commission
Forestry Commission ..
.. .. Forestry
Commission
Fisheries Commission ..
.. .. Fisheries
Commission
National Development Planning
National
Development Planning
Commission
Commission
Lands Commission ..
.. .. Lands
Commission
Subvented Organizations
.. .. Governing
Bodies
Date of Gazette Notification: 9th
September, 1994. |