National Dean of PMs calls on Assembly Members to Resist Mahama Over Ex-Gratia Comment
The National Dean of Presiding Members, Joseph Korto, has called on all presiding members and Assembly members in the country to become antagonistic towards the re-election ambition of former president John Mahama in response to his vow to scrap Ex-Gratia if he is re-elected.
in an interview with journalists in his office in Tema, the National Dean explained that the resistance is important because the former president’s position directly conflicts with efforts by the leadership of Assembly Members to secure Ex-Gratia for themselves.
“Mr. Mahama’s position is untenable because it directly conflicts with advanced efforts on the part of the national leadership to secure Ex-Gratia for hard-working Assembly Members who for a long time have been marginalized by an unfair system of remuneration in this country.
“In order not to let Mr. Mahama’s political adventurism scuttle this effort which is far advanced, I call on all presiding members to rally against Mr. John Mahama and his populist policy going into the 2024 elections,” Hon. Korto said.
Former President John Dramani Mahama, has found himself at the receiving end of public lambast after he vowed at his campaign launch that if he returns to power as President, he will review Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution.
Addressing party supporters at the University of Health and Allied Science, he vowed that as soon as he stepped into office in 2025, he would set up a committee to review Article 71 with the aim of scrapping it, adding that Ex-Gratia to the public sector and civil servants would suffer the same fate.
This, he said, he will do as part of efforts to save the public purse and also get his government running on the path to recovery.
But since he made the promise, he has come under barrages of criticism with his critics saying the promise is populist.
For Hon. Korto, not only is it populist, it is insensitive.
“As we speak, we have a petition pending before parliament that is requesting that Assembly Members be paid Ex-Gratia for their service given that their work is largely not salaried.
“This request, by any stretch of the imagination is fair and so for Mr. Mahama to come along and scuttle it, that is being unfair” he said.
The National Dean of Presiding Members who is also the Greater Accra regional Dean of Presiding Members and also the Presiding Member at the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), sided with those who said the former president’s promise is populist and insincere.
“If truly Mr. Mahama has the country at heart, the question is why did he not decline all the Ex-Gratia he has received in the past as MP, Minister, Vice President and President, And why did he not scrap Ex-Gratia when he was president?” Hon. Korto asked.
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