Ghana’s Speaker says Members of Parliament (MPs) deserve to be paid Ex-gratia for their meritorious service rendered to the nation.
The Rt. Hon. Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin explained that the payment of Ex-gratia (money) is very important for the sustenance of the MPs after serving the country.
The Speaker made this observation at a Public Lecture at the University for Professional Studies Accra (UPSA), on Wednesday, June, 14th, 2022.
Mr. Alban Bagbin said MPs do not benefit much from Ex-gratia as the public perceives.
He explained further that the money spent by MPs to campaign for their elections is three times more than the Ex-gratia they receive.
“We are having these problems because there is some perception that Ex-gratia is some huge money…You know that as MPs you don’t benefit from that Ex-gratia, you don’t, because the money you spent to be elected to Parliament is thrice or four times what they give you as Ex-gratia. No MP leaves Parliament better than the MP enters Parliament.
“Once an MP is elected, he must win the next election and so they sacrifice everything to satisfy the voters in the constituency so that they could win again. So at the end of the day when they lose the election, they have lost everything, they have invested everything in the election and they now have nothing,” he noted.
The subject of Ex-gratia has regained some currency following the Former Council of Sate member, Togbe Afede’s decision to reject over Ghc300.000 paid to him after serving on the National Council of State between 2017 and 2020.
Prof. Chairman, there is just one independent member, a member of the party in power, who defied the decision of the Party to be represented by a different candidate and to run on no party ticket. As God will have it, he is now the Second Deputy Speaker of the Parliament.
