Politicians I Mentored Are Richer Than Me � Alban Bagbin

Majority Leader Alban Bagbin has said when it comes to property acquisition, he cannot compare himself to some politicians he mentored, who are now serving as Ministers in various portfolios in government. ��All the people I groomed, some of whom are ministers now � I spent almost 24 years in parliament � I can�t compare myself to them when we talk about acquisition of property, but because you see me in a Land cruiser � which is my official car � you think I�m enjoying,� the former health Minister said to an audience in Accra Wednesday. The Nadowli-Kaleo MP used that personal anecdote to demonstrate how � in his opinion � ministerial appointees serving in government are more privileged than elected Legislators � a situation he bemoaned. ��We need to cleanse our minds. We need to reinvent some of our values systems,� Bagbin said when he Chaired the 2014 Centre for Social Democracy, Ghana (CSD-Ghana) lecture in Accra Wednesday. �When we fight, we cry every day as your representatives, many of you seated here know that ministers are more important than MPs. Democracy is about elected representatives, it�s not about appointed [Ministers]. �The people that you voted for, you give your power, you give your resources to go and represent your interest, they are the people you should hold accountable and those are the people you should empower to be able to check the excesses of power to improve your lot. Meanwhile the people that are appointed are the people you respect, and so even though you want your MP to be in your constituency every day, no provision in any budget is made for the MP to move to any constituency, so he�s asked to use his salary...� the long-serving MP complained. He said as a result of the neglect of MPs, ��many of the good materials�don�t last in the house if you don�t have the spirit of service because they see themselves better off in private sector, in civil society than sacrificing in parliament�.�