The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has pledged that his government will implement a policy that will see to it that Assembly members and Unit Committee Members across the country are put on a monthly salary structure just like other public office holders like Members of Parliament for best developmental projects done and one Ghana course.
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Assembly Members will be paid monthly salaries if elected - Mahama
It is a known fact that Assembly members do not receive a monthly salary but the only allowance during assembly meetings and they are offered motorbikes as a means of transportation to enable them to do their work for the community in which they serve.
John Mahama
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He said Assembly Members were "the bedrock of our local governance system".
In a live Facebook session on Thursday, June 18, 2020, Mahama said his administration would train assembly members to coordinate the localised registration of all births and deaths.
He said "For providing the service our intention is to pay Assembly Members so that they can earn an income to be able to look after themselves" adding that a policy "is going to be contained in our programme on governance...So this thing about having a new voter register and all that will be a thing of the past because we will get in real-time who has turned 18 and we can just transport them onto the electoral register."
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NALAG and Kufuor on salaries to Assembly members
The National Association of Local Authorities (NALAG), the mother association of all local assemblies and its members has called for an improved welfare package for assemblymen who serve as development agents by rendering unflinching social services for their respective electoral areas.
In August 2019, former President John Agyekum Kufour advocated that assembly members should be given a stipend in recognition of their efforts to deepen decentralisation and local governance.
He said the role played by assembly members in the local governance structure, particularly in the area of ensuring accountability in the assemblies, was a serious one and should, therefore, not be completely regarded as voluntary service.
"Assembly members should be supported with some stipend. That stipend is not for them to go and solve problems but as recognition for their efforts.
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Even though we expect them to exercise a good deal of sacrifice, their work is very serious and hectic and should, therefore, not be entirely taken as a voluntary service," he said.
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