Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of Asogli, has refused approximately GH¢365,000 ex-gratia awarded to him for sitting on the Council of State between 2017 and 2020.
He believes that receiving the aforementioned sum is inappropriate given that he already receives monthly pay for his service on the Council.
He made these comments in response to public outrage about whether or not he followed through on his alleged refund and the reasoning behind it.
In a press statement on Monday, the traditional leader explained that “I did not think the payment was made to trap me, as is being speculated.”
“I believe it was paid to everybody who served on the Council of State. However, I thought that extra payment was inappropriate for a short, effectively part-time work, for which I received a monthly salary and was entitled to other privileges. So, I was very uncomfortable with it,” he added.
The businessman says he looked into ways to refund the money that had been deposited into his account in July 2021, and he was successful on March 4, 2022.
“After weeks of trying, I obtained advice on how to refund inappropriate payments to the State, and on March 4, 2022, I made the refund into the Controller & Accountant General’s Department Suspense Account at the Bank of Ghana,” he said on the latest statement.
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According to Togbui Afede, the action is consistent with his long-held stance of not lavishing large sums of money on public officials at the cost of the general population.
“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,” the statement concluded.
Read Full Press Statement Here:
SOURCE: myjoyonline
