As lawmakers – especially the non-returning ones – clear their offices preparatory to the inauguration of the next national assembly, it has emerged that they have been carting away some of the office items which do not belong to them.
The development has so irked the national assembly management that it has now written a memo threatening to deduct the cost of the missing items from their severance packages.
While 76 of 109 senators will not return to the Assembly, 299 members are affected in the House of Representatives, which comprises 360.
Some of the items which lawmakers have been removing from their offices include furniture, photocopiers, refrigerators, book shelves, file cabinets, computers and others.
In a memo titled “Retrieval of office equipment and furniture in the offices of members”, dated May 14 and signed by the Director, Management Services of the House of Representativesthe national assembly management ordered an inventory of the items in the offices
The memo said: “As part of the activities of winding up of the 7th House of Representatives, the Clerk of the House has advised all Honourable members to vacate their personal belongings from their offices to enable the management to prepare the offices for incoming members.
“To smoothly facilitate this exercise, the inventory has to be taken of all items in every member’s office.
“All office equipment are to be left behind, except personal effects like i-Pad, laptop and Desktop computers.
“Any allocated item taken away by a member will be charged and paid for. Members are advised to inform their aides to kindly cooperate with the officers who have been assigned to carry out the exercise in order to have a hitch-free handover.
“The price of each item will be made available soonest.”
A top National Assembly management worker said: “A similar memo has been sent to outgoing senators as part of preparation for new National Assembly members-elect.
“We are unhappy with what is happening. Items belonging to the National Assembly as an institution are being taken away.
“The implication is that we have to look for scarce resources to buy these items for the new senators and representatives.”
Responding to a question, the source added: “Some outgoing senators and representatives are indulging in this habit.
“We will have no choice than to deduct the cost of such items from the severance package of the lawmakers and their aides. We do not just have the funds to start buying new items.”
The National Assembly has asked senators and House of Representatives’ members to quit their offices on or before May 30.
A senator said: “We actually got a memo to leave on or before May 30. As for the mass movement of items, I will blame some aides of senators and representatives for this lapse. Some of them have lost their jobs too and they are trying to help themselves with whatever is available.
“I think this is an attitudinal problem. I know if the National Assembly management is firms, we can put an end to this misbehaviour.”
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