General News of Thursday, 15 September 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2022-09-15Sammy Gyamfi, Ahiagbah clash over Mahama’s office rent payment
Richard Ahiagbah (left), Sammy Gyamfi (right)
The communication officers of the two leading political parties in Ghana, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), engaged in an elaborate argument over the payment of the rent for the office of ex-President Mahama.
National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, accused the Director of Communication of the NPP,
Read full articleRichard Ahiagbah, of peddling lies over his claim that the government pays the office rent of the former president.
During a panel discussion on the Good Morning Ghana show on Thursday, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, the host of the show, Dr. Randy Abbey asked Ahiagbah to provide evidence of his claim.
But, the NPP communication director said that he had the proof but he cannot share it openly.
“The difficulty with this conversation is that I cannot share the evidence of payments of rent openly. I have the evidence, I can show it to you. I will show it to you, don’t worry,” he said.
Ahiagbah’s remarks infuriated Sammy Gyamfi, who said: “They have lied against His Excellency John Dramani Mahama. They have been exposed and he should apologise for that. And I’m putting it on record here that Richard Ahiagbah has lied. He has lied again that the office accommodation of His Excellency former President John Dramani Mahama is paid by the state.
“I know first-hand the amount of money his excellency pays for that office. This government has not paid a dime, a pesewas for that office. And if he is a man of integrity he should show us the document he is talking about,” he added. The NPP director then replied, “I was looking for it (evidence of Mahama’s Office rent payment) but I haven’t found it in the cluster of documents I have.”
Sammy Gyamfi then told Dr. Randy Abbey, not to allow Richard Ahiagbah to spread lies about the former president and insisted that he shows proof of the said payment.
Ahiagbah, however, said that he initially decided not to share the document that proves the government has been paying Mahama’s office but he will now look for the document and share it.
Former President John Dramani Mahama, while responding to claims by NPP chairman for the Bono Region, Kwame Baffoe Abronye, who claimed he (the former president) has been paid millions in lieu of ex-gratia payments, disclosed that he is not fully benefitting from emoluments he is entitled to as a former Head of State.
He said that all he receives from the government currently is his monthly pension and that all other bills the state must cater for have not been attended to since he left office in 2017.
In an exclusive interview with TV3, Mahama said he is currently footing a myriad of bills among others his own light bills, fuel, office rent and travel bills.
“They haven’t given me an office, I rent an office in East Cantonments, I pay the rent myself, I pay for my own fuel, the state doesn’t give me fuel. I pay my own domestic staff, I pay my own medical bills. I pay my own air tickets when I travel,” he added.
Watch the clash in the video below:
You can also watch this episode of People & Places here:
IB/DO
