Known for his feisty, spirited and controversial monologue on issues of national interest, Paul Adom-Otchere, the host of Good Evening Ghana, GEG, seems to have gotten on the nerves of Ghanaians when he decided to run commentary on Togbe Afede XIV refunding his over GHC365k ex-gratia to the state.
On Tuesday, June 7, 2022, the Board Chairman of the Ghana Airport Company Limited, stated that, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, President of Asogli Traditional Area, needed to refund more than the over GHC365k ex-gratia that he refunded.
According to Adom-Otchere, Togbe Afede XIV only attended 16 percent of the meetings of the Council of State and received all the salaries and benefits that are due to members of the Council of State including the allowances for transportation because the traditional ruler claimed that he always travel from Ho to attend the meetings while he is a resides in Accra.
"[Out] of the 48 months, the Council of State held 242 meetings of which Togbe Afede XIV attended 39 [meetings]; it constituted 16 percent," Paul Adom-Otchere said on his show on Tuesday.
He added, “the Council of State is paid every month and he [Togbe Afede] took all his salaries, of which he is entitled to it. 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...the amount of monies government [took] off the loans that were paid to the Council of State members are more than the GH¢365k he is talking about, for a person who only attended 16 percent of Council of State meetings...
“If you check the Council of State transportation allowances, Togbe’s allowance was paid as of coming from Ho in the Volta region; some of the members told me that ordinarily, he lives in Accra but he said he was coming from Ho."
But after the show, Togbe Afede XIV, who was watching the show and was unhappy with the monologue of Paul Adom-Otchere decided to send him [Adom-Otchere] a WhatsApp message on Wednesday, June 8.
Showing some conversations they both had in the part and his recent WhatsApp messages on Wednesday, June 8, the traditional ruler described the host of GEG as “shameful” who always “tell lies to earn a living”.
“Shameful you continue to tell lies to earn a living. You have to provide evidence of my plenary and committee meeting attendance record and especially, your allegation that I registered as coming from Ho to Council meetings, and so received transport allowance accordingly,” Togbe Afede XIV’s WhatsApp to Paul Adom-Otchere read.
This, pushed Adom-Otchere to obtain records from the Council of State meetings from the period that Togbe Afede was a meeting till the time their tenure came to an end.
Togbe Afede's WhatsApp message to Paul Adom-Otchere.
Togbe Afede XIV