Paul Adom-Otchere Claims Togbe Afede Should Have Refunded His Salaries Too, Not Only GH¢365,392

• TV personality Paul Adom-Otchere has accused Togbe Afede XIV of insincerity after the chief refunded GH¢365,392 paid to him as ex gratia
• Mr Adom-Otchere said the paramount chief also earned salaries and other benefits that he did not merit but failed to refund them
• He also criticised some of the words used by Togbe Afede in a letter clarifying his decision to refund the money

Controversial TV personality Paul Adom-Otchere has accused the Paramount Chief of Asogli State Tobge Afede XIV of insincerity after returning GH¢365,392 to state coffers.

The money was paid to the paramount chief as ex gratia for serving as a member of the Council of State from 2017 to 2020 but he refunded to the government. He clarified that the payment was unnecessary because he had been duly paid salaries and other benefits as a Council of State member.

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He also explained that he returned the money because he disliked huge ex gratia made out to public servants. He has been praised by millions of Ghanaians for returning the money. Many admired him for what they say is a rare trait of a former Ghanaian public servant.

However, during an editorial on his popular Good Evening Ghana show on Metro TV, Mr Adom-Otchere took a different view. Subjecting Togbe Afede’s gesture to his “touchscreen analysis” he said the respected chief and business mogul should have also refunded unmerited salaries and transport allowance advanced to him during his time as a Council of State member.

“A Council of State [member] is paid every month and he [Togbe Afede] took all his salaries, of which he is entitled to... In giving us the narrations [on why he refunded the ex gratia], 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% of Council of State meetings…

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“If you check the Council of State transportation allowances, Togbe’s allowances were paid as if 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,” Paul Adom-Otchere said.

Paul Adom-Otchere also said some of the words used by the paramount in his letter clarifying the reasons for returning the money were inappropriate. He said the use of "inappropriate" to describe the ex gratia paid him was in bad taste.

He indicated that he is not impressed by Agbogbomafia’s refund of his ex gratia although many Ghanaians cheered the gesture. In his view, the paramount chief pocketed some payments that he was entitled to.

Togbe Afede earns praise for returning over GH¢365K unnecessary ex gratia

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh previously reported in a related story that the paramount chief a section of Ghanaians on social media praised him for turning down over GH¢365,000 given to him as ex gratia.

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Initial reports had claimed that the GH¢365,392.67 paid to the prominent traditional ruler was to trap him, however, in a statement issued on June 6, 2022, he explained that he felt the payment was simply inappropriate.

“I did not think the payment was made to trap me, as is being speculated. I believe it was paid to everybody who served on the Council of State. However, I thought that extra payment was inappropriate for a short, effectively part-time work, for which I received a monthly salary and was entitled to other privileges. So, I was very uncomfortable with it,” he clarified.

Source: YEN.com.gh