The Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase, Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak has urged Ghanaians to cease the outcry over the retirement benefits for ex-presidents presented by the Chinery-Hesse Committee.
He explained that though the package seems so lavish and something needs to be done about it, it is still in the interest of the building of the nation.
According to him, MPs erred by failing to ask essential questions on the relevance of some of the benefits mentioned in the proposal, before approving it on January 6, 2009.
Hon. Mubarak was speaking on a Kumasi radio station, Angel FM on Wednesday, where he expressed concern over the presidential retirement package.
He appealed to Ghanaians to pardon the MPs for not properly assessing the proposal before approving it.
The Asawase MP explained that although former President Kufuor had expressed his view on the retirement package emphasising that three cars would rather be enough for any retiring head of state instead of the proposed six, he was of the opinion that the six was enough.
Hon. Mubarak stressed that the emolument should not be seen as a liability to the nation but rather something that could reduce dictatorship and struggle for power by heads in the country.
Hon. Mubarak said there is a lot Ghanaians should understand about the package in order to cease the public outcry.
Also reached for his comment on the issue, Dan Lartey of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) explained that the retirement package issue should not be brought to the public domain at all to disturb the peace of the nation. ÂÂ
According to him, the matter was something concerning civil servants’ work and not something to be discussed in public, adding that Ghanaians should concentrate on how the new President would govern the nation and not retirement packages for former heads of state.
From Stella Danso, Kumasi