Pay us our ESB - Kyei

A former member of the Council of State in the Kufuor government, Mr Kwaku Peprah Kyei, has appealed to the government to speed up the payment of his end-of-service benefits (ESB), as well as those of his former council colleagues.

Revisiting the issue of ESB for some public servants which had taken many twists and turns, Mr Kyei, who is also a former IGP, said in June this year he wrote to the Secretary to the President, Mr Bebaako Mensah, to enquire about the ESB but the Secretary responded that the Ishmael Yamson Committee had then just submitted its report, which the government was studying.

"For more than a quarter of a century I have resisted the temptation to speak publicly on national issues or anything political, but I have been forced to come out and I am ready to speak out more," a visibly worried Mr Peprah Kyei told the Daily Graphic in an interview Tuesday.

Members of the Council of State are entitled to ESB under the 1992 Constitution but the payment due the council members was suspended by the President when he assumed office in order to allow for a review of the Chinery Hesse Committee Report.

Commenting further, Mr Kyei said he had also had personal interactions with Mr Ishmael Yamson, who had told him that there was nothing wrong with members of the Council of State receiving ESB.

"He even expressed surprise that we had not been paid," Mr Kyei stated.

He said he was aware that other former council colleagues had also written to demand an explanation for the delay in the payment.

Mr Kyei also asked why MPs had been paid their gratuity, while the 23 former Council of State members had not been paid theirs and wondered whether it was because they did not wield any influence over government business.