EX-GRATIA: Togbe Afede has more money to refund – Adom-Ochere

Ghanaian broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere believes Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State has more money to refund to the state than the GHC365,000 ex-gratia he returned recently.

The traditional leader has been praised by a section of Ghanaians including the former UN special advisor on governance Prof Baffour Agyeman-Duah for his gesture.

However, reacting to one of such praises by Sulemana Braimah, the executive director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Adom-Otchere said Togbe Afede XIV is being hypocritical.

“My brother Sulemana, let us watch these things as we do nation building. Tonight, we will show the history behind article 71 – from the consultative assembly. We will show that our overlord may have more monies to return, greater in quantum than this one. The facts will speak for themselves,” Adom-Otchere said in a comment under Braimah’s post on Facebook.

He added: “We at GEG [Good Evening Ghana] were instrumental in getting him on the BoG board in 2002 through JH Mensah. He is a good man. But we have to build our nation on principles, please find time to watch, if not I will send you the tape.”

Meanwhile, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, a former UN senior governance advisor has commended Togbe Afede XIV for returning the money to the state.

Speaking to Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (7 June), Agyeman-Duah described the gesture as courageous.

“This is a very interesting situation, hugely of interest to me,” Agyeman-Duah said. “Particularly because I have been talking about the Council of State, but you see what Togbe has done is to dramatize one of the ways that this country wastes resources.”

“And as he says in his statement, he comes to the council and you pay him every month with other benefits and after all that something that is voluntary you send GHC365,000. You calculate, if there are 30 members of the council and every four years you are doing it, how much money are we spending on people who might not need it?” he asked.

“So, if we continue to say we are poor and we are constantly lamenting our helplessness in raising revenue, this is one of them… So I just like the fact that the Togbe has been courageous to come out to tell the nation this is one of the waste pipelines that we have. I am proud of him, I am very proud of the decision to refund the amount,” Agyeman-Duah said.

SOURCE: Asaaseradio.