Don't give MPs rent allowance, house them

Parliament’s approval of GHC50,000 as rent allowances for Members of Parliament has set the tongues of the citizenry, wagging.

While some are arguing that giving out such colossal amounts is drain on the public purse, others are of the opinion that putting up flats for the Parliamentarians will save the nation monies, needed for development.

“Why should Parliament approve such amounts to Parliamentarians just for rent when we could have saved it to support other public sector workers, a middle age man queried?

The GHC50,000 covers their rent for their four year stay in Parliament. In 2008, Parliamentarians received GHC30,000 as rent allowances. This time around, the figure has increased by GHC20,000.

But Mr. Jones Kugblenu, Director of Public Affairs of Parliament says money is being given to the Parliamentarians, since all the options available to it had been considered.

“We have weighed all the options: monetary cost, maintenance and security, and Parliament is of the opinion that giving Parliamentarians rent allowance is the best”, stressed Mr. Kugblenu.

Indeed some school of thought was even of the opinion that “housing NPP and NDC members in a block of flats at a specific location is not the best,” Mr. Kugblenu told the Spectator.

The Public Affairs Director said, some time ago, Parliamentarians were put up in a hotel at a cost of $70 per person per night; when this is multiplied by the number of Parliamentarians it is quite high.

Mr. Kugblenu disclosed that the Sakumono block of flats acquired for Parliamentarians, in 1993 have been given to Parliamentary staff.