A former Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini has kicked against plans by to build offices for legislators in their constituencies.
According to him, it is a waste of taxpayer’s money.
He suggested that since MPs are ex-officio members of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, they can be provided with office spaces by the local assemblies.
“The District Assemblies can give the MPs offices within the District Assembly establishment for the purposes of MPs interacting with their constituents, and then you will have that office come under the purview of the District Assembly for the purposes of maintenance. And that will reduce cost at the parliamentary level and also for the government. This is an additional cost. So when there are also structures upon which you can build, why do you need to replicate those structures?”
It came to the fore earlier this week that the government had allocated some GH¢ 45.5 million to be used to secure office facilities for some MPs in their constituencies.
The said amount caters for the first phase of the project which is intended to provide constituency offices for all the 275 MPs by 2024.
A report of the Special Budget Committee of Parliament, presented to the plenary on Tuesday, said the Parliamentary Service intends “to construct 70 of such offices annually so that by the end of 2024, all 275 Constituencies will be provided.”
Meanwhile, the Deputy Majority Chief Whip, Habib Iddrisu has justified the decision to build the constituency offices.
According to him, it will help the MPs function effectively.
“There are certain things that require that the constituents will have to reach out to their MPs. So providing the MPs offices in their constituencies is a call in the right direction, and it is something that will help MPs and the legislature to be able to function effectively.”
