I have never said Members of Parliament do not deserve vehicles - Okudzeto Ablakwa

• Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has been offering clarity on his comments on the loans facility being acquired for MPs to buy cars

• He stated that never has he said anywhere that MPs do not deserve vehicles

• Instead, he said, he wants MPs to be treated as equally as other Article

Read full article71 officeholders in the distribution of benefits like vehicles

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that he has never said anywhere that Members of Parliament do not deserve vehicles.

Rather, he said, his long time argument has been that while MPs deserve vehicles as well, it must be done in a way that offers equality to all officeholders under the Article 71 of the constitution.

Offering clarity on what he said concerning the recent loan facility of $28 million secured by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, for MPs, the lawmaker explained that his argument is not a new thing but one he has always argued for.

He explained, while speaking on Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana, and monitored by GhanaWeb, that all he wants is for an equitable allocation of benefits for the officeholders.

“I have never said Members of Parliament do not deserve vehicles; I’ve never said that and I must emphasize this point. I have never said don’t give Members of Parliament vehicles to work with, to carry out public duties. I mean, why would I say that? I’ve never said that.

“What I have said is that let there be equity, let there be uniformity," he said.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa further explained that the arrangement for other officeholders under Article 71 that grants them easy access to official vehicles is the kind of arrangement he expects MPs to receive.

"We cannot have a situation where Article 71 provides that the facilities and privileges for use of Article 71 officeholders should be provided by the State and charged on the Consolidated Fund. So, for ministers, MMDCEs, the CEOs of the State institutions, the judiciary, they are not given car loans, deductions are not made from their salaries. There is a pool of vehicles when you are appointed into those Article 71 positions, you access from the pool of vehicles.

“And I said that it is clear to me that, that arrangement, which we have practised and implemented over the years, seems to be more comfortable for the Ghanaian public, you don’t hear a hue or cry about vehicles in a pool for ministers but for MPs, because our arrangement is different, where a car loan is secured or procured by the government, led by the Finance minister. So, I said let’s uniformity, let’s have equality," he explained.

He however noted that if such an arrangement, on the part of the government will not be possible, then they (MPs) should be saved the trouble of loan deductions from their salaries, so they can focus on getting their own vehicles.

“However, if the government argues that they probably don’t have the money, or they can’t work towards that uniformity, then stop the deductions from our salaries and then free us so that we can have our own arrangements with the banks,” he explained.