News:
September 28, 2012
Salaries of Ghana’s Members of Parliament have shot up from GhC 3,000 to GhC 7,200, insider reports reaching Citi News indicate.
Information reaching Citi News indicates that each legislator will receive the new amount as their new consolidated take home pay. The new pay will take retrospective effect from January 2009.
The MPs previously earned under GHC3, 000, a situation they complained was woefully inadequate compared to other African countries.
It will be recalled that The Globe newspaper a few months ago reported that former President John Atta Mills has ordered an increment in the pay rise of the MPs following recommendations by the Professor Ewurama Addy Committee, which he (President Mills) set up in June 2010 to review the Conditions of Service of Article 71 office holders.
It came after Ghanaian MPs, who are among the most poorly paid lawmakers in Africa, objected to a portion of the Committee’s report which they argued could make legislators “worse off.”
The source only gave indications and said “enough work has been done to give MPs a lot to smile about.”
Speculations were however rife that lawmakers could soon be taking nearly twice their GH 3,000 consolidated pay – made up of allowances and salaries for drivers and other household staff – they currently earn.
Investigations by The Globe established that conventionally, Ghanaian MPs have been on the same salary level as High Court Judges. But, by the recommendations of the Prof Ewurama Addy Committee, High Court Judges will earn much higher than lawmakers if the proposals of the Committee are enforced.
“The leadership of the MPs made it clear to the President that the recommendation was not acceptable to them,” the source said, adding “The MPs argued strongly that at least they should be put at par with High Court Judges on the salary scale.”
Citifmonline.com