Ningo-Prampram lawmaker, Sam Nartey George says Members of Parliament are not paid ex gratia.
Speaking to Nana Aba Anamoah on Starr Chat he said salaries of MPs are rather delayed and paid in bits and that’s what makes people think it’s ex gratia they receive.
According to him, the public affairs of Parliament have failed to educate the public on MPs and their ex gratia.
He noted that for four years he never knew how much salary he took as a Member of Parliament.
“The fact that people think there is ex gratia for MPs is the failure on the Public Affairs Directorate of Parliament because there is no ex gratia,” he indicated.
“In 2017, I swore the oath of office on January 7 and went to parliament. I did not know what my salary was until January 5, 2021, almost four years into my term before I knew what my salary was. This is because the constitution gives the president the mandate to set up an emolument committee to determine Article 71 holder salaries.
“So, for four years, those of us in the seventh parliament were paid the salary of the sixth parliament, it is the same way those who are in the eighth parliament would be paid the salaries of the seventh parliament,” he said.
“I am against that because some electorates are saying that MPs are getting GH¢600,000 which will be paid in bits, they will also deduct taxes, etc., but the value of the money reduces because they are paid in bits,” he stated.
The NDC MP said the electorates won’t understand that the so-called ex gratia is a delay in an MPs salary “yet I’ll get more insults because people think I get some free money”.
GhanaFeed.com