An Independent parliamentary candidate for Nkoranza North, Charles Owusu, echoes the sentiment that being a Member of Parliament (MP) is not as glamorous as it may seem.
He references the recent remarks made by the First Deputy Speaker in Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, who highlighted the financial strain MPs often face.
Owusu agrees, emphasizing that MPs are burdened with excessive expectations from their constituents, leading them to feel like slaves unable to accommodate everyone’s needs.
“You have become like a slave that you endure anything someone is doing. Chairman the sad thing is that you that have showe up for it, you are the one they worry more than the one sitting on the chair. So for everything you have to do your best. The MPs are suffering. Sometimes lets have mercy on them.”
Weeks ago, the first deputy speaker in Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu, highlighted the resource constraints within Parliament, noting that MPs often serve as benefactors to their communities, tackling a multitude of challenges within their constituencies.
His remarks follow the departure of certain MPs from the New Patriotic Party after the recent parliamentary primaries.
Osei Owusu remains hopeful that those MPs who lost in the primaries will adhere to the party’s directives and continue to actively engage in parliamentary proceedings.
“Parliament is a poor place. You spend all the money, you are community ATM, you are the financier for all party activity. You are the social burden, you carry all the social burdens of the community so you can’t save anything.”
He continued that “Your emoluments is for the whole community so you are distressed from the beginning till the time of the primaries. Many of my colleagues who lost actually took loans to contest and they’ve lost. Some mortgage their properties. It is common knowledge that within one year when they leave Parliament they can’t pay hospital bills. That is why Parliament has made it a condition to support former Members of Parliament.”