NALAG delegates call for new framework for payment of ex-gratia
Delegates who attended the just-ended Upper West regional conference of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) have called for a new legal framework for the payment of ex-gratia to ensure a uniform and fair end-of-service benefit to all assembly members across the country.
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They contended that disparities in ex-gratia payments at different assemblies as occasioned by a calculating formula worked from the internally generated funds (IGF) of the respective assemblies were discriminatory and unfair.
Presently, regulation governing the payment of ex-gratia to assembly members is calculated on the IGF of the relevant assembly, meaning some assemblies could pay higher ex-gratia than others.
But delegates at the Upper West NALAG Conference called for a reconsideration of the ex-gratia subject for assembly members to inject some fairness into the system.
In the midst of the very strong push for a change in the calculation formula, former Upper West regional representative on the NALAG executive and one-time acting president of
NALAG, Naa Abu Abdul-Rahman, said the association had held fruitful discussions on central government taking over the payment of ex-gratia for assembly members.
That would mean government paying the money from the consolidated fund, just as it did with ex-gratia for parliamentarians when they finished serving their four-year term.
Achieving targets
The General Secretary of NALAG, Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, who was once a second national vice president of the association, said issues of the ex-gratia had always been left in the hands of the respective assemblies, and that the demands expressed by the Upper West conference would require an elaborate process to effect it.
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The conference also elected Basiera Saankara, presiding member of the Wa West District Assembly, as the Upper West Regional representative on the national executive of NALAG.
Saankara defeated incumbent Naa Abu Abdul-Rahman in a 34-20 vote to replace the man who had been an assembly member for eight years.