PRICES AND INCOMES BOARD ACT - 1972 (NRCD 119)
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(1) The Board shall consist of a Chairman and seven other persons all of whom shall be appointed by the National Redemption Council.
(2) The seven members to be appointed under subsection (1) of this section shall be the following:-
(i) a distinguished citizen well versed in Trade Union matters,
(ii) a prominent economist or University Professor,
(iii) an employer, manufacturer or trader,
(iv) a farmer,
(v) a distinguished Ghanaian woman preferably in the field of Social Welfare or Education,
(vi) a distinguished citizen from any recognised profession,
(vii) the Chairman of the body known as the Special Action Unit.
(3) The Chairman and the other members of the Board shall hold office upon such terms and conditions as may be determined by the National Redemption Council.
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The functions of the Board are as follows:-
(a) to formulate an appropriate incomes and prices policy for the successful development of the country's economy;
(b) to conduct periodic reviews of the trends of incomes and prices, evaluate the extent to which these harmonise with the Government's policy objectives, and make appropriate recommendations of action that might be required in the furtherance of the Government's incomes and prices policy;
(c) to study and recommend to Government policy measures that might be required for the regulation of wages and salaries, interests, profits, dividends, rents and prices in the entire economy;
(d) to advise the Government on all aspects of the Government's income policy and in particular but without prejudice to the foregoing, to advise the Government on wage rates and Government's policy concerning interests, profits, dividends and rents;
(e) to examine any question referred to it by the Government being a question relating to wages, salaries, incomes, conditions of service (including those of public servants and members of the Armed Forces) or to prices or to company dividends or returns on capital invested in any form of property and report to the Government on any question so referred.
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(1) The Board shall have an officer to be designated the Executive Director.
(2) Subject to such directions as to policy which the Board may give, the Executive Director shall be responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the functions of the Board.
(3) There shall also be a Deputy Executive Director who shall assist the Executive Director in the performance of his duties and shall perform such other functions as the Board may direct.
(4) The Executive Director and the Deputy Executive Director shall be persons appointed by the National Redemption Council and shall hold office upon such terms and conditions as the Council may determine.
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(1) The staff of the Board shall be public officers.
(2) Subject to such directions as the Chairman of the National Redemption Council may give on the matter, the staff of the Incomes Commission, the Public Service Advisory Board and the Pay Research Unit shall, be deemed to be transferred to the service of the Board with effect from the commencement of this Decree.
(3) The Government shall provide to the Board the services of such other public officers as the Board may consider necessary for the efficient performance of its functions under this Decree.
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The Board may hold such inquiries as it considers necessary or desirable for the discharge of its functions under this Decree, and the Board may at any such inquiry direct that any person appearing as a witness be examined on oath, and administer an oath accordingly, or instead of so directing, require the person examined to make and subscribe a declaration of the truth of the matter respecting which he is examined.
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(1) For the purposes of any inquiry under this Decree the Board may by summons require any person-
(a) to attend, at such time and place as is specified in the summons, to give evidence on, or to produce all documents in his possession or control which relate to, any matter so specified, being a matter in question at the inquiry, or
(b) to furnish to the Board such estimates, returns or other information as may be specified or described in the summons, and specify the time, the manner and the form in which any such estimates, returns or information are to be furnished.
(2) No person shall be compelled for the purpose of any such enquiry to give any evidence or produce any document which he could not be compelled to give or produce in proceedings before the High Court or, in complying with any requirement for the furnishing of information, to give any information which he could not give in evidence in such proceedings.
(3) Witnesses called by the Board shall be entitled to the same allowances as if they were persons called as witnesses before the High Court.
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(1) The Board may by legislative instrument make such regulations as may appear to it necessary for carrying into effect the principles and provisions of this Decree.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section the Board may by regulations made thereunder prescribe guidelines for the determination of incomes and prices.
(3) Any collective agreement regulating incomes which is entered into contrary to any guidelines laid down by the Board under this section shall be null and void.
(4) Regulations made under this section may prescribe in respect of any contravention thereof a penalty not exceeding a fine of c5,000.00 or three years' imprisonment or both; and in the case of a continuing offence may prescribe a penalty in respect of each day on which the offence continues.
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Section 6 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1965 (Act 299) is hereby amended by the insertion at the end thereof, of the following new subsection:-
"(4) Any such agreement shall be in conformity with such guidelines relating to incomes as may from time to time be prescribed by the Prices and Incomes Board."
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Every person who-
(a) refuses or wilfully neglects to attend in obedience to a summons issued under section 8 of this Decree, or to give evidence as required by such summons, or
(b) wilfully alters, suppresses, conceals, destroys or refuses to produce any book or other document which he has been required to produce by such a summons, or
(c) refuses or wilfully neglects to furnish any estimate, return or other information required of him by such a summons or, in furnishing any such estimate, return or other information, makes any statement which he knows to be false in a material particular, or recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material particular,
commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding c500.00.
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Where any body of persons contravenes any provision of this Decree or any regulation made thereunder which constitutes an offence under this Decree then-
(a) in the case of a body corporate (other than a partnership) every director or officer of the body shall be deemed also to be guilty of the offence; and
(b) in the case of a partnership, every partner or officer of the body shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence:
Provided that no person shall be deemed to be guilty of an offence by virtue of this section, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or connivance and that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence having regard to all the circumstances.
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