‘I never took ex-gratia payment of ¢14m in 2013’ – Mahama

Former President, John Dramani Mahama has denied allegations that he collected GH¢ 14 million as ex-gratia payment in 2013.

Mr. Mahama said such fabrications are propagated to dent his credibility.

A statement signed by the Special Aide to the former President, Joyce Bawah Mogtari on Monday, September 5, said he has never collected such an amount as ex-gratia in his political life.

“Fortunately, ex-gratia payments are a matter of public record and are available in the office of the Chief of Staff or the Controller and Accountant General’s Department,” portions of the release stated.The release wants such allegations to be ignored.“We urge the public to ignore the unintelligent rants of the said Kwame Baffoe who has gained notoriety for fabricating and propagating falsehood on behalf of Nana Akufo–Addo against John Mahama. His claims are false.”

“It will be surprising if any such payment had been made to the former President and has not been reflected in any of the numerous Auditor General’s reports presented to Parliament since 2013,” portions of the statement said.

The statement also challenged the offices of the Chief of Staff and the Presidency to provide proof of the former President receiving the said amount in ex-gratia.

“We challenge the office of the Chief of Staff and the Presidency to provide proof of the payment of any such amount and stop using idle miscreants among its ranks to spread falsehood.”

Meanwhile, the former President has promised that the next National Democratic Congress (NDC) government will champion a review of the 1992 constitution to tackle issues such as ex-gratia payments and reformation of the Judiciary.

As a result of this promise, the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC alleges that he received the said amount as ex-gratia in 2013.

Abronye DC thus suggested that the former President cannot be trusted on the issue.

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Source: myjoyonline.com