Members of Parliament are broke. That is the confession by three MPs in a startling interview with Joy News’ Parliamentary correspondent Elton John Brobbey. One of the broke MPs, George Kofi Arthur who represents the Amenfi Central constituency said he used his salary and ex-gratia as collateral for a loan to be used for the 2012 campaign. That has left his pockets empty. He said that at one point in time, he was left with eleven cedis as take home pay, adding with the little adjustments in salary, he now takes home 300.00 cedis. Mr Arthur could not say exactly how much he spent on campaigning, but stated it could not have been less than 150,000 cedis. Having retained his seat, the Amenfi Central MP is hopeful of repaying the loan with his monthly salary and ex-gratia but he is empathizing with his other colleagues who were saddled with so much debt and still lost their races. He said such persons have no other choice but to start life afresh. MP elect for Wa West and former Health Minister Yieleh Chiereh painted an even bleaker picture about the financial status of MPs. He told Brobbey: “If you are not broke, you are not serious in winning your seat [as an MP.]” He said he also used his salary arrears as collateral for a loan to execute his campaign. He said even for his campaign launch alone, he spent about 15,000 cedis to organize it because the constituency is big and needed to bus a lot of people across the constituency. He would not say how much he spent in all on his campaign. Another broke MP, Major (Rtd) Derrick Yaw Oduro, who won the Nkoranza North seat, also reported that his finances have been drained by the campaign to retain his seat. The three claim that their unquenchable desire to improve the lot of their constituents pushed them into making these sacrifices. But Mr Daniel Bartidam, Executive Director for the African Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption, said the confessions by the MPs represent a serious threat to the country’s young democracy. He told Joy News’ Evans Mensah the issue must be taken seriously as a nation. He said the MPs have demonstrated how they pay their way into office, a phenomenon that must be checked. Bartidam insisted that if this vicious cycle is not checked, it will have a deleterious effect on the country’s democracy. He called for a broader policy initiative and reforms of the electoral process in order to regulate how much a candidate can spend during an election.