MPs drivers on warpath

Drivers of Members of Parliament (MP) have threatened action against the nation’s lawmakers, accusing them of inhumane treatment and saying they are preparing to embark on strike action to press home demands for better treatment and improved conditions of service.

In separate interviews with The Heritage, the drivers alleged that, aside of low remuneration; the honourable members often pocket their salaries. This, they said, is brought about as a result of the fact that their salaries are not paid through the banks but left in the hands of the MPs.

Narrating their plight to this paper, some of the drivers complained bitterly about he low salary, lack of transparency in their payment structure, the failure of MP’s to make SSNIT contributions on their behalf, lack of extra duty allowance, and lack of Identification (ID) Cards, among several other problems.

They also expressed worry about how they are made to work beyond the normal working hours without any extra duty allowances and stated that the MPs often use them without regard to weekends and even public holidays.

The drivers further described the failure of the MPs to honour their SSNIT obligations as very unfortunate, following several debates they, the law makers, have made in the time past over issues concerning SSNIT contributions.

One of the drivers, unable to control his emotions, revealed to this paper that he was still being paid an amount of 500,00.00 cedis, although he is very much aware that he is supposed to receive more than that.

Another one said he has not been paid over three months and called on the authorities concerned to assist them to get integrated in the mainstream parliamentary staff in order to halt some of these inconsistencies.

They also complained that all efforts for them to be issued with ID cards have fallen on deaf ears and unless a known person testifies that one is a driver of an MP they are often denied entry into Parliament House.

This, they said, poses a security threat to Parliament, as any mischievous person can take advantage of the situation and pose as a driver of an MP to carry out his diabolic act.

Some of the drivers however commended honourable Isaac Asiamah for his concern for them and said, but for his timely intervention recently at Elmina and Swedru, they would have slept on empty stomachs in the open, after their other bosses had gone to sleep in luxurious hotels after attending parliamentary committee meetings.

When the Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, Mr. Jones Kugblenu, was contacted, he stated that the situation is unfortunate and called on the MPs to do more in terms of responding to the needs of their drivers.

He said, the situation has come about because the drivers of the MPs are not part of the mainstream parliamentary staff and challenged the drivers to revisit their employment contracts with the MPs or quit the job, if the conditions are not good.

Mr. Kugblenu said most of the drivers were employed because they were part of the campaign team of most of the MPs and so no comprehensive employment procedure was followed when they were being employed.