The Executive Director of IMANI-Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe has criticised the proposed salary increases to Members of Parliament. The wages of Members of Parliament (MPs) will increase from 3,000 cedis per month to 7,200 cedis following the recommendations of the Prof Ewurama Addy Commission, established by the late President Mills at the beginning of his presidency to look into the salaries of the MPs. The increase will take retroactive effect beginning in 2009 when the late President Mills first assumed office. This will bring the total amount yet to be paid the MPs to 43,470,000 cedis. However Mr Franklin Cudjoe believed that times are hard for everyone and that while all Ghanaians have to make the most of limited resources, other organizations, including thousands of underfunded schools, needed money more urgently. He was speaking on the Super Morning Show Monday with Financial Consultant, Sidney Casely-Hayford who also has his reservation about the salary increases. Franklin who was obviously unhappy about the hike in the salaries of MPs described as "a mess" the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), on which this increase was based. He questioned the logic of paying MPs 72 times the annual Ghanaian median income and 60 times the average annual per capita income. Sidney Casely-Hayford, agreeing with the sentiments expressed by Franklin, said the increase in the MPs wage was unjustifiable given the current economic conditions. But Professor Marian Ewurama Addy, who chaired the commission that recommended the salary increment, called into the programme to explain why such a decision was taken. She said the commission used the wage rate of Chief Directors of the Ministries, which according to her was modest relative to other government offices, as the basis for the new wage for the MPs. The commission, she added, then used relativities to calculate the wage recommendations. She said the wages were based on the constitutionality of the office of the MPs given the roles they play in national development rather than the performance of the office holder. Prof Addy further explained that the payments will be retroactive because her commission was tasked to evaluate wages for work performed since the commission's inception in 2009. Sidney Casely-Hayford held the view that MPs did not deserve such an astronomical increases in wage given the value of work they provide the nation. He complained that the retroactive pay compensated MPs for presiding over 9% inflation, spending months arguing over the STX housing deal before scrapping it, introducing poorly written legislation, and failing to pass important legislation like the Freedom of Information Act. He also lamented the poor attendance of MPs to sittings in the House as well as the quality of parliamentary debates. Sidney and Cudjoe agreed that because MPs cannot introduce legislation, they do not require such ample financial support to cover their operations.