MPs must contribute to the proposed pension plan – Majority Leader

General News of Sunday, June 2, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-06-02

Majority leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, said members of parliament should be willing to contribute to any pension scheme that would serve their interests.

He added that the pension plan proposed to parliamentarians, which aims to provide them with a quality of life after their departure from Parliament, will be possible if MPs themselves contribute financially to the plan.

His appeal follows a directive from House Speaker Mike Oquaye asking the House committee to work on a program that will help retirees.

The committee should work with the majority and minority majority bads to make the proposed pension plan a reality.

They are also expected to consider other welfare issues with retired members.

In an interview with Citi News, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said MPs need to make sure their pension plan is viable by contributing to it.

"I think this call from the speaker was on the spot. I've always advocated this. In 2008, when we were in touch with this Chinery-Hesse committee, this proposal was suggested to me to think about. We need this, but we should know that there is no badurance [pension]non-contributory scheme. You can not say that members take advantage of retirement when they do not contribute anything themselves. I have therefore proposed these days that we should contribute to a system.

Despite criticism by part of the population that MPs already benefit from ex gratia support, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for South Dayi in the Volta region, Rockson Dafeamekpor, justified his proposal.

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

"These are the salary arrears to which I am entitled. This is not money that we will take somewhere to give it to me, as if I lived in the office and that I was congratulated for 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 education, they are economically disadvantaged because the value of money depreciates over time, "he said.