Former President, John Dramani Mahama has denied that he took home the fattest ex-gratia of GH¢14 million in 2013 as claimed by a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe.
“The Office of His Excellency, former President Mahama has become aware of another false and scurrilous claim by the NPP member, we urge the public to ignore the unintelligent rants of the said Mr Baffoe, who has gained notoriety for fabricating and propagating falsehood, on behalf of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo against the former president.
“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,” the former president stated.
Former President Mahama in a press statement signed and issued in Accra by his Special Aide, Joyce Bawah Mogtari noted that the claims were false as “President Mahama never took any such ex-gratia payment of GHC14 million in 2013 or at any other time during his 25 years of distinguished public service.
“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 and it will be surprising if any such payment had been made to him 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 functionaries to launch a campaign of false allegations against the personality of former President Mahama anytime they have their backs against the wall,” the statement indicated.
It contended that as usual, the latest falsehood was a failed decoy to suppress the national discussions about the hardships Ghanaians were going through because of the clueless, inept, hopeless incompetence and poor governance of the Akufo-Addo and Bawumia-led administration.
The statement pointed out that it was a porous response to the former president’s promise to urgently re-look and review issues related to the emoluments of Article 71 office holders including ex-gratia payments and reiterated the points made by him recently that a next NDC government would run an administration with a leaner government and far less ministers than the country had ever seen to ensure a cut in waste and exercise of frugality in everything his government would do.
It assured that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was also committed, dedicated and determined to implement 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.