Togbe Afede XIV, a former member of the Council of State, claims he could never have spent the approximately GH365,000 ex-gratia he received for sitting on the Council of State between 2017 and 2020.
In an exclusive interview with JoyNews on Thursday, the Paramount Chief and Agbogbomefia of Asogli said he was shocked by the large sum transferred into his account as ex-gratia.
Togbe Afede XIV defended his choice to return the ex-gratia, stating that his four-year part-time employment as a Member of the Council of State did not justify such a large sum of money as a bonus.
"My excitement changed to regret as I realized there was no way I could afford to spend that much money." I was astounded by the amount of money I was going to be paid, and I did not believe that four years of labor, which was, in all honesty, part-time employment, deserved such a large sum of money after I had been given monthly payments. Of course, there are additional benefits, and whether I took use of them or not is irrelevant...but I believed the incomes were sufficient," he told Maxwell Agbagba.
Despite the solid justification for paying an ex-gratia payment to an Article 71 office bearer, he added, the sum to be granted should be subjected to review in light of the country's current economic difficulties.
Asogli's Agbogbomefia feels that the nature of a Council of State Member's work is unworthy of pay once they leave office.
"I believed the wages were sufficient, so I decided right then and there that I couldn't spend that money and that it had to go back to the government...
There may be a need to provide some sort of end-of-service benefit; the amount to be provided will be determined after some consideration of the circumstances in our nation and the condition of the typical Ghanaian. Some persons should not be made to appear as though they belong to a different social class.
"State employment should not take you away from what you've already been doing," he added, "so it's not a case where you need to be reimbursed at the conclusion of your service or when you're fired."
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