A senior member of Ghana\u2019s Parliament has broken ranks with his colleague MPs on the matter of recent demands for increased pay for the nation\u2019s legislators. Shai Osu Doku MP, Hon David Tetteh Assumeng, in an interview with Citi news stated categorically that he is opposed to the proposed upward review of salaries and benefits for members of the legislature.
\nHe believes salaries for all article 71 office holders, which include MPs, should not be increased for at least two years. His comments come at a time Parliament is preparing to put before the Presidential Committee on Emoluments a detailed proposal to demand as much as 7,000 new Ghana cedis as monthly salary for lawmakers. Hon David Assuming said it is time for people in government positions to try and sacrifice for the nation to move on. \u201cWe cannot continue to depend on foreign donors to develop this country for us. We should take innovative ways to do it.
\nI believe if all people in top governmental position agree to freeze any salary increments – we would be able to gather enough money to develop the living standards of the people that we are presenting\u201d. \u201cIf we are able to develop the living standards of the people, then the kind of pressure that is on us to pay people\u2019s school\u2019s fees, to pay funeral donations would be reduced. Nobody is prepared to live at the whims and caprices of the people\u201d.
\nAsked whether he was satisfied with his monthly salary and living conditions as a Member of Parliament, the Shai Osu Doku MP said he is not happy but his main objective as a law maker is to ensure that the needs of his electorates are first catered for. \u201cIt is the people who brought me to this level and I must think of them. Let me think of the people at the grassroots and let\u2019s find a way of solving their poor conditions.
\nYou may see it not to be huge but if this approach is made the people of this country would be very satisfied\u201d. \u201cLet us begin by setting an example, let us freeze our salaries for two years at this level even though it is not much and we are not happy but that is not to say that we should live in abject poverty. The little that we receive let us make do with it and freeze the salary for two years so we gather some money for the welfare of our people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A senior member of Ghana\u2019s Parliament has broken ranks with his colleague MPs on the matter of recent demands for increased pay for the nation\u2019s legislators. Shai Osu Doku MP, Hon David Tetteh Assumeng, in an interview with Citi news stated categorically that he is opposed to the proposed upward review of salaries and benefits […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n