The Office of Mr. John Dramani Mahama has denied assertions the former President took ex-gratia payment to the tune of GH¢14 million in 2013.
Ex-gratia payments, it argued, are a matter of public record and available in the office of the Chief of Staff or the Controller and Accountant General’s Department and stressed if such a record on Mr. Mahama taking ex-gratia is available it should be made public to the Ghanaian people.
“We challenge the office of the Chief of Staff and the Presidency to provide proof of the payment of any such amount and stop using idle miscreants among its ranks to spread falsehood.”
A release signed by Aide to Former President, Joyce Bawa Mogtari, was responding to claims on the matter by Kwame Baffoe Abronye, the Bono Regional NPP Chairman.
“President Mahama never took any such ex-gratia payment of GH¢14 million in 2013 or at any other time during his 25 years of distinguished public service”
“We urge the public to ignore the unintelligent rants of the said Kwame Baffoe who has gained notoriety for fabricating and propagating falsehood on behalf of Nana Akufo- Addo against John Mahama. His claims are false,” the statement said.
Madame Bawa Mogtari pointed out it will be surprising if any such payment had been made to the former President and yet has not been reflected in any of the numerous Auditor General’s reports presented to Parliament since 2013.
She noted it is the stock in trade of President Akufo-Addo and his cronies to launch a campaign of calumny and false allegations against the personality of President Mahama anytime they have their backs against the wall.
“As usual, this latest falsehood is a failed decoy to suppress the national discussions about the hardship Ghanaians are going through because of the clueless, inept, hopeless incompetence and poor governance of the Akufo-Addo and Bawumia administration.”
“It is a porous response to John Mahama’s promise to urgently re-look and review issues related to the emoluments of Article 71 office holders including ex-gratia payments.”
The next NDC government, she said, will run an administration with a leaner government and far fewer ministers than Ghana has ever seen and ensure a cut in the wasteful exercise of frugality in everything the government does as promised by President Mahama.
The NDC, she said, is also committed to the implementation of a review of the 1992 Constitution, which should among others place a cap on the number of Supreme Court Justices and face the issues of Article 71 head-on.
Source: Mypublisher24.com
