Paul Adom Otchere tackles Paul Adom Otchere
Ghanaians hail Togbe Afede for patriotic act
A US-based Ghanaian law professor, Stephen Kwaku Asare, popularly known as Kwaku Azar, has reacted to the ‘huge’ ex-gratia paid to Article 71 officeholders after the expiration of their tenure.
According to him, the ‘huge’ amount of money paid to the Article 71 officeholders should be blamed on the chair of emolument committees established to recommend the ‘ex-gratia’.
In a post on his social media handle, the lawyer explained that the chair of the emolument committee wielded the power to recommend “zero ex gratia and peg Article 71 salaries to that of the police, nurses, or lecturers”.
He questioned why professors who chair the emolument committee will recommend ‘huge’ ex-gratias while their colleagues receive next to nothing.
His comment comes on the back of Togbe Afede XIV refunding over ¢365,000 ex-gratia paid to him for serving on the Council of State.
“Let us not forget that the quantum of the ex gratia and other equally luxurious perks are initially determined and recommended by the Professor dis and Professor 'dat' committees.
“That means these committees can determine and recommend zero ex gratia and peg Article 71 salaries to that of the police, nurses, or lecturers.
“So you have to ask yourself why Professor 'dis' and Professor 'dat', whose colleagues are paid next to nothing, will chair committees that recommend these outrageous awards and benefits.
“Are Professor 'dis' and 'dat' not aware that the country is poor; that nurses are unpaid; that cocoa roads are non-existent; that their research allowance is in arrears, etc.
“Look, you can blame Article 71 all you want but the animal that is biting Ghanafuo comes from our own clothes,” Kwaku Azar posted on his Facebook page.
Togbe Afede XIV in a statement dated June 6, 2022, confirmed that he had refunded over ¢365,000 ex-gratia paid to him for serving on the Council of State between 2017 and 2020.
He indicated that he felt uncomfortable with the money paid for part-time work which he received monthly salaries and other benefits.
“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,” part of the statement read.
Togbe Afede mentioned that the refund was hinged on his “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.”
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare