MPS should be assigned official vehicles instead of loans for cars - MD.

Kumasi, April.4, GNA - A proposal has been made to the government to consider providing Members of Parliament (MPs), Duty or Official vehicles, instead of granting them loans for procurement of their personal cars. Mr Opoku-Agyemang Prempeh, Managing Director of Lakayana Company, a Construction and Revenue Generation and Collection Consortium, who made the proposal said, such vehicles should not be the personal property of any sitting MP but rather the official vehicle of any body elected as MP for that constituency.

Mr Prempeh made the proposal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi on Sunday on what should be done to enhance output of MPS, especially at the constituency level.

He said the provision of an official vehicle would entice MPS to make more frequent visits to their constituencies to find out problems of the people and seek speedy solutions to them.

"However, a mechanism should be put in place to monitor the use of such vehicles and guarantee their maintenance too", he added. Mr Prempeh noted that because MPS have to use cars bought from personal loans granted them, most of them feel reluctant to make frequent trips to their constituencies, thereby distancing them from the problems in their own constituencies.

"Ministers of State, District Chief Executives and Chief Executives, are all assigned official vehicles to perform their functions, so in fairness to MPS, who are also invariably serving members of the public, official vehicles should be assigned them", he stressed.

Mr Prempeh also stressed the need for government to provide Research Officers to each of the 200 MPS in the country.

He said since the MP was a lawmaker, his work entails a lot of research, and therefore, the need for a research officer to assist in such a function was crucial.

Mr Prempeh disagreed that such facilities may be too expensive for government, saying, "democracy by nature is expensive, and if Ghana has opted for it, she must be ready to provide all the relevant inputs to make it a success."