The embattled Chief Executive Officer of the defunct microfinance, Ideal Finance, Nii Kotei Dzani who was once a member of the Council of State has disagreed with Ghanaians calling for the dissolution of the Council.
He said the government must maintain the Council to continue to pay ex-gratia to the members after their term of service.
He stated that the Council of State members must be rewarded given their enormous contributions to the development of the country.
“I do not think that the argument that members don’t deserve ex-gratia is fair. Council of State members really do a lot of work for this country, and I think that we should appreciate them and stop the kind of criticisms and some insults being rained on members. I don’t think it’s fair. Council of State is really important, and the salaries are well-deserved,” he said on Citi TV.
His reactions come after the Paramount Chief and the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV rejected over GH¢365,000 ex-gratia paid to him for serving on the Council of State between 2017 and 2020.
Togbe Afede has returned the money to the state through the Bank of Ghana.
In a statement issued by the Agbogbomefia, he said he received monthly payments and allowances while as a member of the Council of State therefore he sees no need for the payment of the ex-gratia.
“I did not think the payment was made to trap me, as is being speculated. I believe it was paid to everybody who served on the Council of State. However, I thought that extra payment was inappropriate for a short, effectively part-time work, for which I received a monthly salary and was entitled to other privileges. So, I was very uncomfortable with it,” Togbe Afede XIV said in a statement.
But the Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), Dr. Eric Oduro-Osae, said the Council of State must be scrapped.
According to him, the Council of State has proven beyond reasonable doubt that it has outlived its usefulness.
He said “It is about time we reconsidered the functions of the Council of State in our governance structure. If we sincerely believe that we cannot allow the Council of State to advise Parliament, the judiciary, and the executive and the decision to be binding on them, we should scrap it.”
