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14.06.2004 General News

Pay Us More, MPs Demand

14.06.2004 LISTEN
By THE INDEPENDENT

Some Members of Parliament (mainly backbenchers) have called on the Executives, especially the President to endeavour to look into the possibility of increasing their salaries.

The MPs said they expressed frustration at the President's failure to set up a committee whose responsibility would be to review and determine the conditions of service of MPs to avoid the situation of always looking up to the executive for their salary increase. They lamented that for almost four years into the administration of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), all we get by way of salaries is a meager allowance of ¢2.3million.

The MPs disclosed this to a member of the parliamentary press corps who accompanied the Rt. Hon Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey and his entourage on a good will visit to the Russian Parliament.

According to the MPs who are mainly from the back bench of the House, their current salary structure and service conditions were disincentives to many of them “especially the young ones whose constituents bombard them with unnecessary demands, “when they visit their constituencies.

In the view of the MPs, some of their colleagues are often made to foot the bills of dowry prices of some constituents, made to pay funeral donations, pay hospital bills of their people and other utility bills like water and electricity. Worse of all, the MPs contended some of their constituencies also demand monies from them to buy clothes.

Hon. Okerchiri who is the deputy majority whip said MPs have made lots of enemies for themselves owning to their refusal to dole out monies to friends and cronies and in some cases some MPs have had brushes with their party executives due to misunderstanding in the disbursement of the fund.

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