Abdul Salam Sule, Ghanadot
Accra, March 10, Ghandot - The spokesperson of ex-President
J. A. Kufour, Mr Samuel Agyekum, said today that, the
former President did not receive his share of the ex-gratia
award which was recommended by the Chinery-Hesse committee.
The statement by Mr Agyekum was contrary to earlier media
report which had suggested that the former President
received his share of the ex-gratia package, a
misinformation which stoked up controversy in the country
for weeks.
Mr Agyekum, reacting to the issue this morning on a radio
programme, explained that the package which was due the
ex-President as a retirement benefit as recommended by the
Chinery-Hesse committee, and which Mr Moses Asaga, a member
of the government transitional team on economy had signed
for the money to be released, was hurriedly aborted by
President John Evans Atta Mills.
President Atta-Mills reasoning was that the whole benefit
plan, including those of members of parliament, had to be
reviewed.
According to Mr Agyekum, it was, therefore, the review of
the entire Chinery-Hesse report on the ex-gratia awards that
had delayed the payments to the former President, Mr John
Agyekum Kuffour.
Mr. Agyekum, however, expressed the hope that the committee
that was set up by the President Atta-Mills to review the
Chinery-Hesse report would act fast to enable the
ex-president to receive whatever his share of the award
should be.
It should be noted that the ex-gratia awards of the former
President Kufour, which was recommended by the Chinery-Hesse
committee, became controversial after partial news of it
came to public notice.
A
media specialist, Mr
Peter Akakpo, who was close to the
deliberation of the Chinery-Hesse committee and the
rationale behind the ex-gratia award later came out with a
complete statement on the reasoning behind the package (Presidential retirement
package was a UNDP sponsorship).
Ghanadot
