Approval of Chinery-Hesse Committee's report was rushed- Babgin

Kumasi, May 11, GNA- Mr. Alban Babgin, the Majority Leader in parliament, has said approval of the Chinery-Hesse Report giving recommendation for gratuity for ex parliamentarians was rushed. He said members of the house were not given enough time to peruse and scrutinise the report, limited copies of which were only made available on January 6, 2009, the very day on which the last parliament was expiring.

Mr. Babgin, MP for Nadowli North, was reacting to a question posed to him during a media interaction with the minority and majority leaders of parliament in Kumasi.

The interaction afforded journalists in the Ashanti Region the opportunity to have a fruitful rapport with parliamentary leaders and also have an insight into the workings of the house. The Majority Leader said the GH¢82,000 "take home" prescribed for ex-parliamentarians was a gratuity which entailed a lump sum payment and not an ex gratia or end-of-service benefit payment that has to be spread over a period.

He said the high public expectation of MPs to honour certain financial obligations of their constituents and the tendency to be branded as not having made it whilst serving in parliament had called for the need for parliamentarians to enjoy a good "take home". Mr. Babgin said most honest parliamentarians are now paupers after serving the nation because they were not given any benefit to guarantee a better livelihood after serving their terms in parliament. 12 May 09