Provide Stipends to Enhance Parliamentary Press Welfare -MP Urges Parlt Services Board

Honourable Ibrahim Ahmed, the First Deputy Minority whip and MP for Banda, has called on the Parliamentary Services Board to take steps to provide some stipends to members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) in support of their welfare.

According to him, aside capacity building training provided to them by parliament, a monthly allowance would go a long way to improve their welfare as PPC members.

Ahmed made the call at a capacity building workshop for members of the Parliamentary Press Corps on Friday, December 29, 2023, in Accra.

Speaking on the theme, “Enhancing the image of Parliament through the media,” the perspective of the Minority,” the First Deputy Minority Whip said parliament as an institution has the capacity since similar support has been extended to national service personnel, the police unit and the Fire Services.

While eulogizing the Ghanaian parliamentary press corps and the media in general as one of the best, the MP also expressed the concern that it appeared to also be the weakest among the four arms of government as the fourth estate of the ream.

The MP commended the parliamentary press for the critical role they play in educating and informing Ghanaians of what happens in Parliament, hence the need for the capacity building.

He said the media should be able to self-regulate themselves, emphasizing that “when you go to other jurisdictions it is not every media which is allowed to report from Parliament House, you are screened and they build your capacity till they are sure of what you can deliver before you are given the opportunity to report from Parliament.”

This, Ahmed said Ghana’s Parliament should invest in the media if it so wants to build its image as an institution, adding that, taking care of the welfare of the PPC should be on the consideration in the next budget, most possibly in the mid-year budget review.