"There is nothing wrong with the welfare program for MPs" – the MP for South Dayi

General News of Saturday, June 1st, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-06-01

The South Dayi deputy in the Volta region, Rockson Dafeamekpor, justified calls for a welfare system for lawmakers after they left parliament.

According to him, people misunderstand what the ex-gratia implies.

Despite the payment of an ex gratia payment, which is in thousands of Cedis every four years, the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, instructed Parliament's committee to take steps to put in place a pension plan for MPs.

The call has elicited mixed reactions from part of the public and relevant stakeholders.

However, South Dayi's lawmaker told Citi News that providing an ex gratia service other than the social badistance program envisioned would deprive them of the economic value of these sums.

"These are the salary arrears to which I am entitled. This is not money we will take somewhere to give it to me, as if I were leaving my post and congratulating myself on a job well done. No! This is nobody's money. It is money that I should have really earned at a time when I was in office. In fact, when members receive this free, they are economically disadvantaged because the value of money depreciates over time. "

According to the President, the living conditions of most former MPs are far from the public perception that there is much money to be gained in Parliament.

"We all know that the lives of many old members do not match what we would like to see and it pains me personally to see what they look like once they've served and that people think they are people who make money … painful. People do not have money here.

He instructed the House committee and the bads to make recommendations on how best to deal with the situation.

"See other members of Parliament who have recently or recently left office, so we must also look at the reality and make arrangements for pensions and other aspects of the well-being of members. I refer this question to the committee for its consideration.

A group of former legislators have called on Parliament to help them by providing pension plans and social badistance programs.

Former members have said that their living conditions are bad.

They urged Parliament to also provide better pension programs, as most of them remained unemployed after leaving the legislature.

They called for a pension plan for incumbent MPs and an extension for former MPs.