The Paramount Chief of Asogli, Togbe Afede says he rejected more than GHC 365,000 Ex-gratia paid to him for serving on the Council of State between 2017 and 2020.
According to the Traditional Leader, ”it is not appropriate to receive the said amount when he already took monthly salaries for serving on the Council”.
In a statement to clarify the situation after members of the public reacted to news of whether or not he indeed followed through with his supposed refund and the rationale behind it, Togbe Afede said, ” it is his opinion that the extra payment was inappropriate for a short, effectively part-time work, for which he received a monthly salary and was entitled to other privileges, hence, felt uncomfortable with the payment of the ex-gratia”.
The statement said he explored ways to return the money which hit his account in July 2021, and successfully refunded the money on March 4, 2022 into the Controller & Accountant General’s Department Suspense Account at the Bank of Ghana.
This he said is in line with Togbui Afede’s long-standing principle against dishing out huge funds to Public Officials at the expense of the citizenry.
The statement added that the rejection of the payment was consistent with 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”.
BELOW IS THE FULL STATEMENT
