Sam George, the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram
• Sam George says government should get a pool of cars that will serve MPs
• He believes that MPs who want to own cars should buy it themselves
• His comment comes on the back of the $20m car loan saga
Sam George, the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram has suggested an alternative means government can solve the vehicular challenges of members of parliament.
Parliament has come under attack after the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta tabled a $20million loan facility for the purchase of cars for lawmakers.
The amount when broken down will see each MP receive $100,000 as car loan, which amount they will repay within the course of their term.
In a social media post, Sam George said that Parliament should not be treated differently from other arms of government.
He said that Parliament should have a pool of cars which will be made available to MPs as and when necessary.
He added that the decision to buy personal cars should be left with the MPs with no assistance from government.
“My position on this car loan matter remains the same. Treat Parliament like the Executive and the Judiciary. Provide workstation vehicles fueled and serviced by the State just like is done for Ministers and Judges. MPs should buy their own personal cars when they want one,” he posted on Twitter.
Whiles Sam George has implicitly rejected the offer, his colleague NDC MP Rockson Dafeamekpor believes that the MPs more than deserve it.
Dafeamekpor in a JoyNews interview said of all the arms of government, MPs enjoyed the least privilege.
“Check the condition of service for the Electoral Commissioner. She has about 5 military officers following her in two land cruisers. She is an article 71 officeholder. She was not given money or a loan to buy these vehicles. I don’t have five military men following me.
“Supreme Court judges have land cruisers, they were not given loans to buy their land cruisers. Ministers of State have land cruisers or official vehicles. Yesterday you saw in the papers that another facility is been taken by the executive to acquire official vehicles for members of the council of state.
“MPs are the only category of article 71 holders who are not given an official vehicle. So if the agreement is that we are given a loan to purchase official vehicles, I think it is very wrong. My position is that the government should take steps and get us official vehicles to perform the functions of our office in the next four years like it is done for all the other categories,” he said.
My position on this car loan matter remains the same. Treat Parliament like the Executive and the Judiciary. Provide workstation vehicles fueled and serviced by the State just like is done for Ministers and Judges. MPs should buy their own personal cars when they want one. ????
— Sam ‘Dzata’ George (@samgeorgegh) July 7, 2021