Akim Abuakwa South Member of Parliament, Samuel Atta Akyea has welcomed a suggestion for Members of Parliament (MPs) to accept pay cut.
He only wants the timeline regarding when the full payment will be restored, clearly defined.
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said MPs must also be willing to accept pay cut as a way of contributing to building the country.
The Ofoase Ayirebi Lawmaker said he is willing to move a motion to that effect in Parliament.
“I think that the legislature should also look at pay cut. The executive is looking to cut salaries by X per cent, may be we Members of Parliament, and I will be happy to move a motion on that in parliament that they should also consider taking a pay cut to help to contribute to what we are seeking to do.
“That is what gives you the moral right to then ask anybody else in the economy to take a cut or whatever project, or whatever activities that are going to go on,” he said on the Good Evening Ghana programme on Metro TV Tuesday March 22.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reduced the salaries of all his appointees by up to 30 percent.
This is one of the measures introduced by the government to deal with the economic problems facing the country at the moment, the Presidency said.
The President assured the nation that the Minister of Finance Ken Ofori Atta will be announcing the measures that have been taken by the government to tackle the economic challenges facing the country at the moment.
Mr Akufo-Addo said this during a meeting with Council of State members at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday March 22.
He said “The Minister for Finance is going to have major engagement with the nation on Thursday where he is going to be in the position to lay out specifically the measures that we have taken or we intend to take to correct or put the ship of sail better.”
Mr Akufo-Addo further observed that the challenges that are facing Ghana are similar to those pertaining in many countries around the world.
He noted that it is no secret that Ghana is going through economic turbulence.
He said the government has the ability of finding solutions to the challenges.
“It is no secret that our economy is going through difficult times. It is also no secret that we are not alone in that exercise. The many of the phenomena that we are facing are phenomena that are apparent in many other parts of the world but that doesn’t therefore mean that government is impotent in trying to find solutions,” the President said.
Members of the Council of State have also decided to reduce their monthly allowances by 20 per cent until the end of the year.
This decision was taken due the economic difficulties that the country is facing at the moment, Chairman of the Council, Nana Otuo Siriboe II, said.
Speaking during a meeting with the President at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday March 22, Nana Otuo Siriboe II said “Mr President, over the past few weeks, the Council has been deliberating on the current economic conditions of the country and have been collecting views with the view to sharing with you as early as possible.
“As we were going through our routines, you and your cabinet were at a retreat over the same issues. Since yesterday, we have been fed with snippet of information regarding some of the decisions that you have made.
“We are particularly delighted to read that you and your cabinet have decided to reduce some of your emoluments and your allowances. Mr President, in tandem with your decision we as Council of State had also decided that we will reduce our monthly allowances by 20 per cent until the end of this year.”
Reacting to this development in an interview with TV3’s Komla Kluste, Mr Atta Akyea said “If that is what is necessary to, sort of, give us some relief temporarily, at the end of the day, if things are very difficult and we should sacrifice, this house should sacrifice as well.
This is where it is. I am of the humble view that we should be able to define to what extent and what time frame are we going to go back to normal.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana