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29.05.2023 Headlines

'I didn’t insult you' – Mahama responds to 'his friend' Nana Akomea over ex-gratia

Nana Akomealeft, Managing Director of the State Transport Corporation STC and former President John Dramani MahamaNana Akomea[left], Managing Director of the State Transport Corporation (STC) and former President John Dramani Mahama
29.05.2023 LISTEN

Former President John Dramani Mahama, has responded to comments made by the Managing Director of the State Transport Corporation (STC), Nana Akomea, who accused him of always replying to critics with insults.

In an interview on Accra-based Peace FM, Nana Akomea challenged Mahama to stop accepting his monthly allowance starting from May 2023, claiming that the former President had no right to accept ex-gratia if he planned to abolish it when voted as President again.

“Some people argued that President Mahama, if you want to cancel the ex-gratia, then return the ones that you have taken...so, for you, let us take it like the advice that they gave doesn't make sense because that is money you have already spent...

“Look at the kind of insults he insulted people, he said that they are silly, they should know better. He insulted them anyhow. Someone that when people share their opinions, and you don't agree with them, then you insult them,” Nana Akomea said.

Reacting to the comments made by the STC boss, Mr. Mahama earlier took to Twitter to clarify that what he receives every month is not an ex-gratia payment, but a pension allowance that is paid to any ex-president by law.

“My friend Nana Akomea. Really sad what politics can do to a fine mind! I don't take ex-gratia. I receive a monthly pension,” the former President tweeted in the wee hours of Friday, May 26.

In a rebuttal, Nana Akomea, who found the statement insulting, stated that Mahama's penchant for insulting people who criticize him is unbecoming of his stature.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, May 27, the former Okaikwei South MP urged Mahama to find other ways of engaging his critics.

“Even if [ex] President Mahama disagrees with me, I am sad that he chose to lace his disagreement with insults to my person, by implying politics had caused me to lose my ‘fine mind’.

“The last time other citizens commented on this same sentiment of [former] President Mahama, he met them with similar insults, calling them ‘silly’. I urge [ex] President Mahama, that if he wants to be President of Ghana again, he should refrain from insulting citizens,” he said.

Nana Akomea added that “I assure him I am still his friend and I still have a fine mind.”

In an attempt to clarify his earlier tweet, Mahama again responded on Monday, May 29, stating that he did not insult Akomea.

He noted that the STC boss chose to misinform the public due to politics.

“My friend Nana Akomea. I did not insult you. I know you know the difference between a lump sum ex-gratia payment and a monthly pension. Why you chose to misinform the public was because of politics,” Mahama said.

The issue of ex-gratia payments to ex-presidents and other Article 71 holders in Ghana has been a contentious one, with some arguing that the payments are unnecessary and a drain on the country's resources.

Mahama had pledged to abolish ex-gratia payments if he is voted as president again, stating that the money could be better used to address pressing national issues.

Isaac Donkor Distinguished
Isaac Donkor Distinguished

News ReporterPage: IsaacDonkorDistinguished

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