Ex-Gratia For Assembly Members An Act Of Injustice – NALAG Pres. Cand

An aspiring President for the National Association of Local Authorities (NALAG) has disclosed that Assembly Members after serving four years received between 1,000 to 2,000 Cedis as Ex-gratia depending on the financial status of the Assembly. This he has described as unfortunate and an act of injustice.

Hon Alfred Asiedu Agyei, also known as Paa Joe, the Presiding Member for the Accra Metropolitan Assembly who doubles as the Assemblyman for Avenor Electoral Area, made this disclosure on Opemsuo Radio in an interview with George Opoku Mensah (Agudey) on the Nkwantananso Show.

“You will serve your Electoral Area for four years as an Assembly, can you believe that Ex-gratia as Assembly Member you are given GHC 1,000 or 1,500 or at most 2,000 Cedis”.

Sharing his plans for NALAG if elected as National President, he said it is quite unfortunate for Members of the Assembly who are key stakeholders as far as MMDAs are concerned to be subjected to such unfair treatment.

He, therefore, proposed that Ex-gratia for Assembly Members be charged on the Consolidated Fund just as Members of Parliament instead of the Internally Generated Funds of various Assemblies.

“We are not comparing ourselves to MPs but we are saying that whatever is due us must be given to us. Per the L.I on Assembly Members Ex-gratia, it to be paid based on the ability of the Assembly which is an injustice because the Assemblies do not have the same financial strength”.

“If you are an MP and you serve at Bole Bamboi or Okaikoi South, at the end of the day they are all given the same ex-gratia as MPs which is coming from the Consolidated Fund, so we will plead with the government to pay the ex-gratia of Assembly Members from the Consolidated Fund”, he proposed

Source: Opemsuo.com/ Kwabena Kyeremateng Addo