Deputy Majority Chief Whip, Alhaji Habib Iddrisu, has defended the construction of constituency offices for Members of Parliament (MPs) saying the move is in order for parliamentary work.
Contrary to criticisms of the project, Habib Iddrisu, who is also the MP for Tolon is of the view the offices will enable legislators to function in a more effective and efficient manner.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, he said the support of the Speaker and President Nana Akufo-Addo strongly affirms the significance of the offices in improving business on the floor of the House.
“This was a decision from leadership with the Speaker. We thought it wise that there was the need for MPs to have offices in their constituencies where some officers will receive communication and do administrative work on behalf of the MP. Many of the MPs might not be able to go home all the time and their constituents will also not be able to come to Accra to meet them.”
“The Speaker was actually very firm on this and that is why it has been captured in this year’s budget. This is a very good thing in the right direction that the Nana Addo led government has been able to listen to the call of Parliament to put up these offices in our constituencies. It will go a long way to help us.”, he said.
Earlier this week, the government allocated GHS 45.5 million to secure office facilities for some 70 MPs in their constituencies.
The amount caters for the first phase of the project which is intended to provide constituency offices for all the 275 MPs by 2024.
A report of the Special Budget Committee of Parliament, presented to the plenary on Tuesday, said the Parliamentary Service intends “to construct 70 of such offices annually so that by the end of 2024, all 275 Constituencies will be provided.”
Cost not high
There have been widespread concerns that the project is an additional burden on the public purse and must therefore be kicked against.
But commenting on these issues, Habib Iddrisu maintained that calculations by such critics are wrong because of other components of the project that they have not considered yet.
“Based on the discussions that we had, I don’t think that the cost involved is too huge. A lot of things will go in. There will be a lot of architects to do the design. A lot of work will be done behind the scenes before you go to the real cost.”
“There will be offices with the secretariat, administrator’s Office, the MP’s office, toilet and bath and a small conference room. That is the idea. So let me clarify that you cannot just divide the GHS 45.5 million by the first 70 constituencies and think about the unit cost. You can’t use that to conclude that it is going to be high.”