Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli state, has declared that if offered an ex-gratia payment again, he will reject it.
After it was discovered that the chief had declined more than GHc300,000 for his work on the Council of State, he made headlines in June.
Togbe Afede asserted that his monthly salary as a Council member was sufficient and stated he was adamantly opposed to receiving ex-gratia.
And he has now made it clear that, given the difficult conditions the nation is currently experiencing, he will repeatedly reject the payment.
“I returned the ex-gratia amount I was given not because I didn’t need the money, in fact at that particular time I needed money very badly to meet various family obligations,” he said at a youth empowerment forum and anti-corruption day celebration, as quoted by Citinewsroom.
“But I truly believe that money was not deserved. It was inappropriate for what, I will emphasize again, was essentially a part-time work.
“Yes, I will do it again [reject ex-gratia], because our country is a very poor country so nobody who sacrificed or who has offered to voluntarily work for this country must be very considerate”.
The constitution permits some payments to Article 71 office holders, but it was ambiguous about the quantity of those payments, so a committee had to be established to decide how much should be paid, according to Togbe Afede. And the committee needs to perform better when it is established in the future.
Before this year’s Asogli Yam Festival was celebrated, the youth empowerment forum and anti-corruption day were observed.
