The assembly member for Sabikrom Electoral Area in the Dormaa East District of the Bono Region, Mr Sylvester Peprah, has commended President John Dramani Mahama for fulfilling the Election 2024 campaign promise of paying assembly members monthly allowances.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minister of Finance, announced in March this year when presenting the 2025 budget statement to Parliament that the government had earmarked GH¢1,000,000 to pay monthly allowances to assembly members.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Wamanafo in the district, Mr Peprah said: “The President’s motive may have been driven and informed mainly by his experience as a former assembly member and a fellow who is so familiar with our plight and challenges.”
He explained that the assembly members required adequate resources and incentives to perform their duties effectively by serving their constituents and mobilizing them in facilitating decision-making processes that could strengthen the decentralisation concept.
“We serve as the link between the communities and the government, and we also need resources to carry on with our task,” Mr Peprah stated, adding that many of the assembly members were hugely overburdened with a multiplicity of social functions.
He said such social functions included honouring invitations from churches, organisations, community leaders, schools and even travelling to remote communities to serve the people, adding that “yet there are limited resources available at our disposal.”
He also praised the government for the initiative to establish a Women’s Development Bank, saying that would empower many women traders to grow their businesses and contribute to the upkeep of their families.
Mr Peprah said the establishment of the bank was feasible and called on the government to expedite action on to relieve women traders and entrepreneurs of their financial burdens.
GNA
