MPs will demand official vehicles, says Bagbin

Frontpage, May 18, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Members of Parliament (MPs) will insist that the government provides them with official vehicles, according to the Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.
He stated that although the new government had not come up with any clear policy on the issue, “we will this time round insist that MPs are provided with vehicles that will assist them to discharge their duties, instead of going in for loans to purchase such vehicles to generate furore from the general public”.
Mr Bagbin, who is also the MP for Nadowli West, was addressing a press conference at the weekend to refute statements attributed to him in a story published by an Accra daily newspaper.
The comments attributed to him related to the Chinery-Hesse Committee Report on gratuity for MPs of the Fourth Parliament of the Fourth Republic.
The Majority Leader traced the history of the provision of vehicles for MPs right from the First Parliament of the Fourth Republic and wondered why there should be public outcry over vehicles purchased by MPs through loans which were eventually paid back.
He said during the First Parliament of the Fourth Republic, MPs were assisted to purchase second-hand vehicles which did not last, while, during the Second Parliament, the new vehicles which they purchased were not strong enough.
Mr Bagbin explained that it was only during the Third and Fourth Parliaments that they were offered loans to purchase 4x4 vehicles, during which the MPs received public bashing.
He stated that since MPs had to travel to their constituencies almost every week and tour remote areas to interact with their constituents, there was the need for them to get vehicles that would take them through such weekly trips.
He also touched on accommodation for MPs and stated that the government had provided GH¢30,000 for each MP to rent accommodation for two years and some months and that had enabled the government to make huge savings, since, during the last Parliament, the government had to spend GH¢2.5 million on MPs’ hotel bills.
Mr Bagbin stated that through the current arrangements, only GH¢600,000 had been spent.
Touching on the gratuity given the MPs of the last Parliament, the Majority Leader explained that GH¢82,000 was paid to each of the beneficiaries but that a sizeable chunk of that was used to repay the loans contracted to purchase vehicles for their official work.
He added that what each MP would get at the end of the day would be about GH¢20,000.
He advised former MPs against using stickers meant for MPs on their vehicles, since that would amount to impersonation.
On the earlier report attributed to him, Mr Bagbin said in presenting a “bizarre” report of the event in Kumasi, the newspaper pencilled down quotations which “it claimed came from my lips”.
He stated that he would always want to see a cordial and harmonious relationship between the media and Parliament to promote a just and free society and cautioned that “misrepresentations will never do anybody any good. Giving a dog a bad name and hanging it will not help us”.
He explained that in his presentation in Kumasi, he had stated a number of apologies Parliament had rendered for its inability to scrutinise the voluminous Chinery-Hesse Report before it was passed.
“We cannot run away from that fact. What else is expected of us to warrant this sordid twist of facts?” he asked, and reminded the media that the ability of the electorate to make informed decisions would depend on them.
“It, therefore, behoves all of us to be as objective as possible in our quest to ensure the flow of information from the government to the people and vice versa,” he added.