Paul Adom-Otchere, Tobge Afede XIV
HOST OF Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana programme, Paul Adom-Otchere, has taken on the Paramount Chief of Asogli State, Tobge Afede XIV, for portraying himself as a sanctimonious person by returning an amount of GH¢365,392.67 he received as ex-gratia for being a former member of the Council of State.
According to him, while the action and the statement of the traditional ruler come across like an attitude of moral superiority, these just make him sound like a hypocrite, pointing out that it is wrong for Tobge Afede to describe the payment as “inappropriate.”
Chief’s Statement
The paramount chief recently indicated in a press release that he applied for and received a statement from his bankers that confirmed that indeed some money was paid into his account by the Controller and Accountant General for his work as a member of the Council of State.
He stated that the Council of State Secretariat confirmed that the sum of GH¢365,392.67 was paid into his account as ex-gratia, and did not think the payment was made to trap him, but he thought that “extra payment was inappropriate for a short, effectively part-time work,” for which he received a monthly salary and other privileges.
Togbe Afede said he refunded the money into the government’s chest because he was “very uncomfortable with it” and that after weeks of trying, he obtained advice on how to refund the “inappropriate payments” to the State.
“On March 4, 2022, I made the refund into the Controller & Accountant General’s Department Suspense Account at the Bank of Ghana,” he asserted.
He added, “Even though I served as chairman of one of the three (3) committees of the council, the Economy and Special Development Initiatives Committee, and participated fully in the council’s activities, I do not think my work merited the payment to me of a colossal sum of GH¢365,392.67 as ex-gratia, in addition to the salary I enjoyed from what was effectively a part-time job.”
“I want to add that my rejection of the payment was consistent with my general abhorrence of the payment of huge ex-gratia and other outrageous benefits to people who have by their own volition offered to serve our poor country,” he stated.
Adom-Otchere
However, the host of Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana believes Togbe Afede created the impression that the payment of ex-gratia is an illegality and corrupt act.
“It is not corruption and those who are congratulating him [Togbe Afede] have shown misunderstanding of the super structure under our democracy, the constitution.
“If you want to kill the snake, you have to cut off the head. You don’t pinch the snake and say you have done well. It was wrong for Togbe Afede to have described ex-gratia as inappropriate payment.
“It is guaranteed by the constitution. So you can’t say it is inappropriate and paint the picture of other people who have collected it as if they are bad, corrupt people. You don’t occupy a moral high ground and say I am some clean guy,” Mr. Adom-Otchere intimated.
He continued, “No! If we want to build a country, we must look at the super-structure and say that we don’t want Article 71 of the constitution. We must make that determination and go for it. We cannot fight corruption in a piece meal.”
Council of State Meetings
The TV host also said Togbe Afede XIV probably was being hunted by his conscience for only attending 39 meetings out of the 242 meetings held by the Council of State, representing 16%, but took salaries throughout the four-year period.
“The Council of State is paid every month and he [Togbe Afede] took all his salaries, of which he is entitled to. In giving us the narrations, he should have stated that he was unable to attend all the meetings of the Council of State, yet he took all his salaries, including his car loan, a waiver from Ghana Ports and Harbour’s Authority to import cars,” he noted.
He said the amount of monies paid by the government to top up his loan, as well as interest waived on it, were more than the GH¢365,392.67 ex-gratia payment.
According to him, even though Togbe Afede lived in Accra when he was a member of the Council of State, he took transportation allowances commensurate to a person commuting from Ho in the Volta Region to Accra.
He said the paramount chief might want to refund more than GH¢365,392.67 to be able to stay at the moral high ground, saying that it would equally not be appropriate to take the salaries for meetings he did not attend between 2017 and 2020.
“Are there more substantial perquisites that he says he is returning?. If Togbe Afede says it came to him as a surprise, then his lawyer did not advise him well. He should have known that he was entitled to it as a Council of State member, and quoted Article 71 to buttress his point.”
“Article 89 makes it clear that the President or any senior member, is unable to vary it. You cannot go to the Council of State and later say you were surprised you got ex-gratia. Ex-gratia was coming because you received salaries.”
“It is calculated on salaries, emolument and allowances. It is in the constitution. Other privileges received were substantial,” he stated.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu