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Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu said Members of Parliament (MPs) will push for their salaries and allowances to be equated with those of the Court of Appeal judges.
According to him, the payment of gratuities and ex gratia to parliamentarians is legitimate and lawful because they also fall under the holders of Article 71, adding that the deputies are required to receive the salary and allowances and to benefit from the facilities that may be determined in accordance with the Constitution.
Speaking to the Parliamentary Press Corps at a press conference hosted by the Parliament’s Public Affairs Directorate yesterday, Iddrisu said tips paid to MPs are not only ex gratia, but arrears of salary must be paid to “deserving MPs who have served their four-year term.”
“I believe and maintain that the salaries and allowances of deputies are assimilated to those of the judges of the court of appeal. This is my position and I think we will work on it, ”he underlined.
He said that when tips and gratuities are discussed, “it is important that the public appreciates the fact that our work does not have security of tenure.”
“When you are a civil servant, they say you retire at 60. This (ex gratia) happened after four years. We have to be entitled to it, “said the MP for Tamale South, adding that” what we have to do is train the public. Many of you comment as if MPs don’t deserve it.
He said that in 2016 there was no salary adjustment for MPs and that this situation continued until 2017, 2018 and 2019, “yet all civil servants like MPs got a salary adjustment of 21.5% in 2017, 12% in 2018 and 10% in 2019. So this is all being worked out.
At the time of tabling this report, Parliament was expected to approve the emoluments of Article 71 (2017-2021) office holders in respect of the executive.
Section 71 office holders include the President, the Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament, the President of the Supreme Court and judges of the Supreme Court as well as Members of Parliament, Ministers of State, people appointed by politicians and officials.
The ex gratia payment to former public office holders has always been a controversial issue in the country, with the details of the payments only known to officials.
However, Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said Article 114 (1) of the constitution provides that “a person who has served in Parliament for a period of at least four years is eligible, upon ceasing to be a member or upon death, for the payment of this gratuity to him or to his personal representatives, as the case may be, is determined, in consultation with the committee referred to in article 71.
“Therefore, the payment of gratuities to deputies is constitutional. For those of them who said they did not deserve it, they can refer to article 114. ”
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament
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