Most MPs are not happy with their salaries – Jirapa MP

Mr. Cletus Seidu Dapilah, MP for Jirapa Constituency

Member of Parliament for Jirapa, Cletus Dapilah, has bemoaned the insufficient salary paid to legislators at the end of every month by the government.

MPs receive an average of GHS10,000, and according to Mr Dapilah, “most MPs are not very happy with” this situation.

He emphasised that both sides of the House – Majority and Minority share the same sentiment over how much they earn.

“Most MPs are not very happy with their salaries. The leadership of Parliament is aware of this. Both sides and every other MP, whether Majority or Minority, they are not happy about their salary situation,” he said in an interview on JoyNews.

“It is the magnitude of the hardship in the country. Go to Parliament. Let them interview the MPs, and they will tell you,” he added.

According to Mr Dapilah, most if not all MPs are burdened with taking care of their constituents – an initiative supposed to have been shouldered by Municipal Chief Executives (MCEs) and District Chief Executives (DCEs).

“The MP’s salary is for everybody. The MP’s salary is not just for the MP. Whatever the MP is paid, it is still for everybody. We earn GHS10,000. Some people don’t even get it because of the deductions on loans. Sometimes people sympathize with the Minority MP because they say you are not in government,” he added.

Justifying why GHS10,000 is insatiable, Cletus Dapilah said he could spend half of his salary on fuel during a trip from Accra to Jirapa.

He ruled out the option of public transit arguing that it would defeat the purpose of urgency.

“I can be called to attend to a situation in the constituency, I cannot.. The busses move in the evening, if I am to wait to board the busses, then it means I am not going to solve the problem. I pay my driver. I buy my fuel, I service my car,” he stated.