Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu believes it is unfair that both new and long-serving Members of Parliament earn the same salaries.
He said Ghana’s Parliamentary committees need serious reforms to motivate seasoned legislators.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said this at a dialogue organized by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) with the Expanded Leadership of Parliament in Accra.
He cited the second deputy Speaker and Nadowli MP Alban Bagbin, wondering why man who has served in Parliament for 27 years should be on the same salary as a new entrant.
“If we don’t have career Members of Parliament, the Executive will become overbearing and dominate the political space,” he said, as quoted by Starr News.
“Indeed that is what the executive wants, every executive wants to deal with a very weak parliament.”
The Majority Leader added: “There should be concrete measures that we put in place to recognise longevity.
“For now MPs regardless of the number of terms that you have served, the current 2nd Deputy Speaker, a 7th term MP is on the same salary as a first time Member for Parliament and there is nothing to indicate that he has served parliament for seven terms, so we in the House should structure our affairs to recognise the efforts of long serving MPs.”
The dialogue was on the theme: “The Committee System in Ghana’s Parliament: An assessment”.Source: Pulse Ghana
