The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has said that parliament will strengthen its systems to enable it tackle the incidence of ‘double salaries’ which is tarnishing the institution’s image.
According to him, Members of Parliament don’t intentionally receive double salaries but rather the overpayment is attributable to “weakness in the system”
“It is important for us to erase the perception of the public on these matters of an overpayment which is politically called double salaries. It is a weakness in the system. All the committees have commented on the matter. That’s the experience from 1993 till date, and it has led to these unfortunate overpayments due to the weakness of the system”, said the speaker as quoted in a Citi News report.
Alban Bagbin made the following remarks after parliament’s return from recess.
The speaker expressed his willingness to resolve the matter with the help of the Parliamentary Service Board while counting on the cordial relationship between the judiciary and the legislature.
Explaining how he would fix the problem, he said “MPs don’t intentionally go round taking a double salary. We need to put this to rest in order to position ourselves to be able to do our work. I intend with the help of the Parliamentary Service Board to do this with dispatch. The leadership of the house, the Parliamentary Service Board, and the Speaker will continue to widen the scope of the already cordial relationship between the judiciary and the legislature and the government to work in harmony for the betterment of the lives of Ghanaians.”
The Minority caucus denied the double salaries allegation with some such as South Dayi MP, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamakpor, saying no crime had been committed.
