The Member of Parliament for North Dayi in the Volta Region, George Loh has denied claims that Ghanaian Parliamentarians demand financial incentives before they appear at certain programs.
The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sule Brimah, this week accused MPs of making monetary demands before they attend programs they are invited to.
r[contextly_sidebar id=”No3GoBALmqpVGgDp3jezd60Fl4m2plxj”]However, according to Mr. Loh, the claims by the MFWA were unjustified and were borne out of a lack of knowledge of the workings of Ghana’s legislature.
“I can say with authority that this is the joke of the century. I don’t know where this individual got his information from. It is beginning to show clearly that most people do not understand how parliament operates, do not understand what procedures we follow, don’t understand what guiding principles that we have as members of parliament and I assure you that no member of parliament would ask for any such envelope before they appear at any function,” he said on Eyewitness News on Thursday.
Mr. Loh argued that the purpose of any money that is given to Parliamentarians by any event organizers is clearly stated before the function and are not demanded by the MPs.
“There is an agreement between the leadership of Parliament and the relevant organizations. When we get invited, whatever protocols go with it, if MPs must get fuel coupons or money for fuel, it is clearly stated,“ he said.
He added that if a Member of Parliament is invited to an ‘unofficial parliamentary programme,’ the onus lies on the person who invited the MP to provide fuel for his or her transportation to the function.
“Parliament has its own programs, officially mandated programs. When we go for those programs the things that happen are different.
If a member of parliament is sitting somewhere and you are inviting him or her to a program that is not an official parliamentary programme on the Parliamentary calendar, you do not expect that that person will fuel his or her car from Pusiga or Walewale or wherever to Accra,” he opined.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana