The office of the former President of Ghana, Mr John Dramani Mahama has denied taking Gh¢14m as ex-gratia in 2013.
According to a release signed by the spokesperson, Mrs Joyce Bawah Mogtari, their attention has been drawn to another false and scurrilous claim by a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, that former President Mahama “… took home the fattest ex-gratia of GH¢14 million in 2013…”
“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 as His claims are false.
Mrs Bawah said 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.
“Fortunately, ex- gratia payments are a matter of public record and are available in the office of the Chief of Staff or the Controller and Accountant General’s Department.”
“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,” she stated.
She added that It will be surprising if any such payment had been made to the former President and has not been reflected in any of the numerous Auditor General’s reports presented to Parliament since 2013.
“We know that it is a 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.”
The spokesperson said, “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.”
Mrs Bawah said 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.
“We want to reiterate the points made by President Mahama recently that the next National Democratic Congress (NDC) government will run an administration with a leaner government and far fewer ministers than Ghana has ever seen and ensure a cut in waste and exercise of frugality in everything government does.”
She added that the NDC 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.
