Cllrs equate mayors to deputy Speaker

In addition, the councillors told the Presidential Commission reviewing the salaries of political and traditional leaders, that the basic pay of a councillor should be 75 percent of the basic salary of a mayor. They called for a housing allowance pegged at the market rates and a hospitality allowance at P250 per month. They want a communication allowance of P1,500 a month and a ward allowance of 75 percent of the applicable constituency allowance for MPs. The councillors proposed that they should have a sitting allowance equivalent to that of MPs.

They said if the objective of the commission is to come up with an appropriate pay structure for political leaders, it should reflect a unified and integrated salary structure with the President at its apex and councillors at the bottom. They said currently, the structure only accommodates, to a degree, the national political leadership.