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‘Cut your coat according to your size’ – Prof Appiagyei-Atua to MPs on payment of ex-gratia
Professor Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua of the University of Ghana School of Law has stated that the payment of ex-gratia to Members of Parliament (MPs) is not justified.
As a result, he wants it to be scrapped.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, June 16, he said government must stop paying the ex-gratia.
He insisted that the political elite are taking advantage of the same “benefit to milk the state.”
As such, he urged MPs with a focus on the said benefit to live within their means.
“No, it cannot be justified, and I think that Parliament should sit up and say that if you are saying that you spend too much due to campaigning and so on, be circumspect in your campaigning because that is where corruption starts.”
“Cut your coat according to your size if you know you are not expecting ex-gratia, you’ll know how to organize your political campaign.”
Prof. Appiagyei-Atua also rejected the justification by the Speaker of Parliament for the payment.
“If you are talking about the fact that ex-gratia is made available to everyone whether you win elections or lose and don’t come back, you are entitled to that, then how can you call that a retiring benefit?
“They also need to look at the fact that it is a huge amount of money and the justification that the Speaker is putting to it, it is not just because if you are paying for people’s funerals and school fees and so on, why do you turn around to the government to pay that money back to you.
“It is a way you want to use to return to power, and it is purely at the discretion of that MP to use that money just to hold on to power. So I think it is not justified.
The Rt. Honourable Speaker at a public lecture at the University for Professional Studies, Accra, on Wednesday, June 15, justified the payment of ex-gratia to Members of Parliament.
He contended that the money is very important for the sustenance of the MPs after serving the country.
According to him, MPs do not benefit much from ex-gratia as the public perceives.
He explained that the money spent by Members of Parliament to campaign for their elections is three times more than the ex-gratia they receive.
“We are having these problems because there is some perception that ex-gratia is some huge money…You know that as MPs you don’t benefit from that ex-gratia, you don’t, because the money you spent to be elected to Parliament is thrice or four times what they give you as ex-gratia. No MP leaves Parliament better than the MP enters Parliament.
“Once an MP is elected, he must win the next election, and so they sacrifice everything to satisfy the voters in the constituency so that they could win again. So at the end of the day when they lose the election, they have lost everything, they have invested everything in the election, and they now have nothing,” he noted.
The subject of ex-gratia recently resurfaced following the former Council of State member, Togbe Afede’s decision to reject over 300 thousand Cedis paid to him after serving on the National Council of State between 2017 and 2020.
Subsequently, social media users showered accolades on the Paramount Chief for rejecting the amount paid him as ex-gratia.
The netizens praised him for protecting the public purse and thinking of the growth and development of the country. Even though, some people didn’t agree with him.
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
