Convenor of a group calling itself Cross Fire Invasion Berima Osei Tutu aka Otumfuo, has opined some persons who contest to go to parliament don’t there to serve but the benefits that come with being an MP.
He said MPs fall under Article 71 Officeholders, and because of that, they get several benefits.
This, he noted, encourages people to contest as MPs so they could get these benefits.
He said when people become MPs, suddenly they transform their lives, live good because they get loans to buy what they want.
He explained that we’ve lost several professionals because everyone wants to go to parliament.
MPs he posited get a car loan, loans to buy houses and other items and so, you would finish the university with someone, you both have degrees but the person will get to parliament and within the shortest possible time, they have transformed.
Otumfuo further noted that only a few of the MPs go to parliament to serve but the majority get to the office to amass wealth for themselves.
He suggested that we should get to a point where an MP with a degree should get the same salary as a teacher with a degree.
He said the system cannot make everyone the same but we should equity at some levels of the job market.
Article 71 office holders include the President, the Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court.
The rest are Members of Parliament (MPs), Ministers of State, political appointees, and public servants with salaries charged to the Consolidated Fund but enjoying special constitutional privileges.
Article 71 (1) and (2) of the 1992 Constitution stipulates that the determination of the salaries and allowances of the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary paid from the Consolidated Fund would be determined by the President, on the recommendations of a committee of not more than five persons appointed by him and acting upon the advice of the Council of State.
In determining the salaries of the President, his Ministers, and political appointees, as well as the members of the Council of State, the Constitution states that Parliament will determine that based on the advice of the same committee.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com