The Deputy Communication Director of the New Patriotic Party, Ernest Owusu Bembah has challenged claims by former President Mahama that he caters for his own bills.
According to Mr. Bempah, Mr. Mahama lied when he made that assertion.
On September 13, former President John Mahama said he does not enjoy any financial benefits beyond what he was owed while in office.
According to him, the only remunerations he gets are from pensions drawn like every worker in Ghana.
Aside from that “I receive only my monthly pension, like President Kufuor or President Rawlings was receiving until he died. That is all I get.”
This comes on the back of comments by a section of the public that he is benefiting from the same monetary benefits he speaks against regarding Article 71 Office holders.
“I pay the electricity bill for my house, for my office. I pay the water bill for my house and my office. I live in my own accommodation so the state does not pay me anything for accommodation,” he said in an interview on Accra-based TV3.
He tabled fuel, medical bills, domestic staff, and flight tickets among the list of tabs he foots himself.
Mr Mahama added that the only lump sum received was “¢230,000 as salary arrears in 2013.”
However, Mr. Bembah said this is far from the truth.
“As a politician who do politics with almost everything under the sun without censure, the ceaseless merry-go-round of cherry-picked evidence by Mahama to denigrate the state is quite embarrassing to say the least. Fact is, there’s enough evidence to show that Mahama, since his 2016 electoral humiliation has been taken care of by the state,” Mr. Bempah stated.
To prove his point, the Deputy Communication Director has provided documentary evidence.
“Matter of fact, here is enough evidence on Mahama’s claims that the state has abandoned its constitutional obligations towards him as former President. As you can see on the document below, Joyce Bawa, a special aide to former President- John Mahama, on the 19th December, 2017, received and acknowledged receipt of $66,000 as reimbursement for airfare, when she Joyce Bawa herself made the request for same on 23rd November, 2017,” he said.
Mr. Bempah also provided further documents “to show that not only has the former President received vehicles from the state but also Mrs. Lordina Mahama was allocated a vehicle as well.”
“John Mahama can’t lie through his teeth and expect to get away with it,” he stressed.
