Professor at the University of Ghana Ransford Yaw Gyampo has hit hard at persons who have taken on the former President, John Dramani Mahama, for promising to scrap the payment of ex gratia if re-elected President of Ghana.
Prof Gyampo stated that Mr Mahama should rather be applauded for expressing intention to scrap this “unwarranted” payment.
The former President made the promise at the launch of his campaign to lead the National Democratic Congress (NDC) again in an elections on Thursday, March 2.
“The payment of ex gratia to members of the executive will be scrapped,” Mr Dramani Mahama announced when he launched his bid to be 2024 Presidential Candidate at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in the Volta Region.
“The necessary constitutional steps to take this will start in earnest in 2025. We will also persuade members of the other arms of government to accept its removal.”
Already, calls have heightened for the former President to refund the ex gratia previously received for seriousness to be put to his promise.
The founding Director of the Center for European Studies at the University of Ghana pointed out that that those asking the former President to return his previous ex gratia “must lift the bar of their reasoning on this all important matter of national interest”.
Prof Gyampo expressed this in a write-up on Wednesday, March 8.
In it, he praised former President Mahama expressing the “bold” resolve to end the payment to Article 71 office holders.
“After enjoying it in the past, I am sure [former] President Mahama has heard the criticisms that have been leveled against recipients and he is now vowing to discontinue such an arrangement,” he wrote.
“I am of the view that we should rather be applauding such a bold resolve whose implementation would require serious constitutional hurdles to be scaled over.”
He later added: “I support every move to ensure that we do not pay pensions to appointees and some public office holders every four years.
“As a teacher, I am entitled to pension only after I retire at age 60. Anyone who insists to be paid ex-gratia every four years, which is a form of pension, at this time when we have allowed our resources to be plundered, must not have a place in public service.
“I think John Mahama should rather be commended for resurrecting this thorny issue of national rape of the public purse by some politicians.
“He should be commended again for pledging to halt this greedy practice.”