Non-governmental organization, WiLDAF, has called for a review of allowances allocated Members of Parliament in the country, arguing it fuels corruption.
Addressing the issue of the cost of politics in Ghana on Gender 101 on the Morning Starr, the NGO argues the amount of monies given MPs is unnecessarily huge and serves as an avenue to fuel corruption.
According to senior programs officer at WILDAF, Frank Boja, citizens expect their MPs to cater for their needs when they hear the allowances and salaries given them.
“What we are paying our politicians and then comparatively to those doing the technical work, we are paying them too much, compared to many other countries and looking at the financial position of the country we have to have a second look at it.
“And the MPs they take ex-gratia and every four years if they win they keep taking and these are some of the issues too so the expectation is that as much as he is receiving let me also take from them”.
Recently, some Members of Parliament expressed concerns over what they call undue delays in the payment of their salaries.
One of the MPs, Ras Mubarak, who raised the concern on the floor of Parliament, said they are yet to be paid their February salaries, two days into the month.
MPs averagely earn about GHC 13,000 every month. They also get other benefits and allowances.
Financial constraints
Parliament has for sometime now been battling with financial challenges.
In October 2014, there were similar delays in payment of financial benefits for Members of Parliament, which sparked renewed anger in the House.
In that same year, the House was forced to postpone its resumption date from May to June due to financial constraints.
Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM
