John Dramani Mahama, the former President, has replied to a request for him to immediately stop receiving monthly ex-gratia by promising that if he is elected President, he will abolish the end-of-service lump sum payment.

Nana Akomea, a former politician and current Managing Director of Intercity STC, is the most recent to make the claim. He also claimed that the former president was still receiving monthly ex-gratia.

Mahama via a social media post on Twitter lamented Akomea’s views stating thus: “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,” Mahama’s May 26, 2023 post read.

Speaking in an interview, Nana Akomea submitted: “Let me give him one challenge, just one challenge, Togbe Afede said that for him he doesn’t believe in ex-gratia as a Council of State member, so what did he do?”

“The ex-gratia that they gave him, he returned them to the government…after returning the money to the government, President Mahama praised him for doing that, saying he is a man of principle…so it means that Togbe Afede has principles by returning the ex-gratia. President Mahama, today if you claim you don’t believe in the ex-gratia, the ones that you have taken, we know that you have spent it already, so, we can’t say that go and bring it.
“But the challenge I am giving to him is that the ones that he will be taking from this month May, he shouldn’t take it, he should stop taking the ex-gratia, the same way Togbe Afede stopped and returned his own, he should follow the same principle.”
Nana Akomea

Mahama Warned Not To Make Unrealistic Promises

In order to convince Ghanaians to support the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2024 elections, a political expert has advised the presidential candidate of the party to provide Ghanaians with well-tailored, doable policies that are founded on quality standards and are measurable.

The former President, according to Nana Kwaku Duah, was unimaginative and switched from one promise to the next in an effort to sway voters. He claimed that it started with the pledge to eliminate ex-gratia and has since expanded to include the collapsed banks, promising to reopen any that were improperly shut down.

“Former President Mahama first promised to abolish ex-gratia, when he realised it was a constitutional clause that could not be readily changed. He is aware that this has legal backing and that it would be tough. As a result, the guarantee has changed. The effort has changed from ex-gratia to bank rehabilitation.
“What I mean is that the NDC must devise methods and think outside the box. If they continue to campaign in the same manner, they will make no difference. They would make any difference because those in the middle class look at topics, conditions, and circumstances before voting and will tell you that both the NDC and the NPP are the same.”
Nana Kwaku Duah

Regarding bank collapses, he claimed that some of them wilfully broke the law, leading to the collapse of the banking industry.

“If Mahama is going to make promises, the restoration of banks should not be one of them. Some of the issues that occurred at some of the banks were careless. Are you suggesting you’d reinstate these reckless banks’ operating licences? This promise must be carefully considered because it may be the magic that aids the NDC. The party should be managed and avoid political rhetoric.”
Nana Kwaku Duah