Some Assembly Members (AMs) in the Sunyani West Municipality have thanked President John Dramani Maham for fulfilling his 2024 electioneering promise of providing AMs with monthly allowances.
According to the Local Government Act, the work of the AMs remained voluntary however Dr Cassiel Ato Forson announced GHC100 million seed money for payment of monthly allowances to the AMs when he presented the 2025 Budget Statement to Parliament on Tuesday.
Reacting in a post-budget interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Fiapre, near Sunyani, Mr Sifuyani Abdullahi, the AM for the Oyoko/foase Electoral Area said he received that announcement with excitement, saying payment of the monthly allowance would inspire the AMs to actively engage their constituents.
He expressed worry that whenever the AMs attended social event such as funerals, wedding and naming ceremonies, the organisers often expected some monetary contributions from them.
Mr Prosper Anane Kobo, also the AM for the Fiapre Bofrease Electoral Area praised President Mahama, saying the allowance would help the AMs to mobilize and interact with their constituents regularly.
That would deepen decision making processes at the local level and strengthen the decentralization concept.