The money given to Members of Parliament (MPs) every four years, according to Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, is not ex-gratia but rather accumulated salary arrears (gratuity).

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He claimed that most lawmakers, including himself as Speaker, do not know their actual salaries until the end of their four-year terms, a practice he called "wrong" at the start of every new parliament.

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He said that whenever Ghanaians discussed the budget for the House of Representatives, they thought of it as funding for the wages and working conditions of the members, "especially what people refer to as ex gratia."

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“Gratuity is different from ex gratia; what they pay MPs is gratuity and it is another wrong practice because as we sit here in our third year, which is three years down, I as the Speaker do not know my salary,” he revealed.

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Speaking during a visit to the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Bagbin said: “My salary has not yet been fixed and so every month I am paid something based on what my predecessor was earning.’’

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“But we all know from the labour front that every year they try to renegotiate with the government and so at the end of the four years then they (government) come out with your salary.”

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“And that will definitely be higher than the first year and so they have to pay you arrears.

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“It is those arrears that balloon to what the Members of Parliament take at the end of four years and people call that ex gratia,” he explained.

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