Review our conditions of service – MPs

• Posted on March 20, 2024March 20, 2024
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

More Members of Parliament (MPs) have added their voices to the countless calls for the conditions of service of past and present legislators to be reviewed.

In the past week, several legislators raised concerns over the lack of proper insurance schemes for MPs after their exit from office.

Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin pushed for establishing an ad hoc committee to review the conditions of service for current and former MPs.

However, his request was turned down by the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Asiamah Amoako, who was presiding over the house. Mr Amoako explained that the matter had already been referred to the House Committee.

Despite these arrangements, on March 18, Subin MP Eugene Boakye Antwi raised the issue on the floor of Parliament.

According to Mr Antwi, although the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament had referred the matter to the House Committee, from previous experiences, nothing appears to have been done about these concerns.

On the back of this, he said “The matter is a very sensitive one and also concerns all members both sitting and former that we will set up an ad hoc committee to look into this matter.”

 Tamale North MP, Alhassan Suhuyini, backed Mr Antwi claims and called for collaborative efforts to secure these better conditions of services.

“Sometimes these discussions as important as they may be when they are not carefully handled, they send a very bad impression of us Members of Parliament. Like I said, they are important conversations to be had but the way they are had and the way they approach it, can result in negative feedback.

The Majority Chief Whip of Parliament, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, expressed disappointment that the conditions of service for former MPs had not been addressed by an existing committee, necessitating its referral to an ad hoc committee instead.

According to him, the majority side of Parliament was prepared to take action on the issue.

“As I said, it’s a house so I needed to relate to our colleagues and they also had to do some very good consultation backyard. So it is not as easy as you see it. However, we related to the speaker on such matters and he has cautioned that it’s something that we should not necessarily subject to discussion on the house floor and that the leadership should relate and deal with it.”

However, the Minority Chief Whip, Kwame Governs Agbodza, argued that the committee would be ineffective, given that Parliament is set to go on recess in two days.

“It may not be a committee that will come up with a report in two days which is Wednesday when we rise but I don’t have any hard feelings about putting the committee together. If we need to do it, we need to do it because the principles are quite clear. Day in, day out we talk about senior colleagues who have passed on.”

“I have my own story about how my former MP had to be rescued from Ho government hospital to Korle Bu at a point in time, out of ill health. How he managed the hospital bills is not a story you would tell a would-be MP. That one on principle we all agree that we must do something, not self-serving. I think it’s a good call,” he said.