Assembly members want their ex-gratia awards to be paid

Wa, Aug 03, GNA - Delegates to the Upper West Regional Conference of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) held at Wa has urged the government to ensure that the terminal benefits of all assembly members are paid to them before the dissolution of the assemblies in September.

In a resolution adopted at the conference the delegates, comprising mostly assembly members from the eight districts in the region, said they would not countenance any delays in the payment as in the past where some former assembly members had up to date not been paid their 2002 ex-gratia allowances.

They renewed the association's suggestion to government to pay ten million cedis to each of the 6,000 assembly members in the country from the Consolidated Fund as terminal benefits.

Considering their responsibilities and commitments as assemblymen and assemblywomen and their contribution to national development in the past four years as representatives of the people, they expressed the hope that the amount being demanded would meet the approval of the Government.

They said the assemblies should legally be dissolved at midnight of September 23 and not between September four and eight as directed by the Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment because they were inaugurated through out the country on September 24, 2002.

On the Unit Committees, the delegates stated that until they were re-organized and re-packaged along side the Area Councils they would never be able to work, due largely to apathy resulting from lack of motivation.

In a speech read on his behalf, Mr Ambrose Dery, the Upper West Regional Minister, called on NALAG to educate the people to take the forthcoming district level elections seriously so that the right people would be elected.

Mr Kyei Bafuor, the President of NALAG, appealed to all Metropolitan, Municipal and District assemblies and other stakeholders to support women candidates to win seats in the Assemblies.

"The power equation has been unequal and tilted against women so it is important that we support our women to take their rightful place in local governance".