Dr Elikplim Kwabla Apetorgbor, special aide to Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State has described claims suggesting the traditional leader only attended 39 out of 242 meetings of the council of state as false.
The broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere on Tuesday alleged on his TV show that Togbe Afede attended less than 40 meetings of the council when he was a member.
Apetorgbor said the allegations are ridiculous.
“During Togbe’s time on the council of state, he was chairing the economic and social development committee, why would somebody with such a responsibility absent himself for about 40 meetings, how would that have happened with such a responsibility,” Apetorgbor told Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday (8 June).
“We have the minutes of each of the meetings that they have attended, minutes of the committee meetings that he was present in all of them, except for some few ones. So, I found such comments on national television unfounded and excuse me to say ridiculous,” he said.
“I expected him at his level to do his research well, except for the fact that, that is what somebody has paid him to do. He mentioned about Togbe taking a car loan from the government. The loan that were given to members were commercial loans from SG-SSB and it was even optional and he subscribed to it and had paid fully. Why should this one too be an issue?” he asked.
Listen to Dr Elikplim Kwabla Apetorgbor in the attached audio below:
Togbe Afede deserves praise for returning ex-gratia
Meanwhile, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, a former UN senior governance advisor has commended Togbe Afede XIV for returning the money to the state.
Speaking to Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (7 June), Agyeman-Duah described the gesture as courageous.
“This is a very interesting situation, hugely of interest to me,” Agyeman-Duah said. “Particularly because I have been talking about the Council of State, but you see what Togbe has done is to dramatize one of the ways that this country wastes resources.”
“And as he says in his statement, he comes to the council and you pay him every month with other benefits and after all that something that is voluntary you send GHC365,000. You calculate, if there are 30 members of the council and every four years you are doing it, how much money are we spending on people who might not need it?” he asked.
“So, if we continue to say we are poor and we are constantly lamenting our helplessness in raising revenue, this is one of them… So I just like the fact that the Togbe has been courageous to come out to tell the nation this is one of the waste pipelines that we have. I am proud of him, I am very proud of the decision to refund the amount,” Agyeman-Duah said.
Fred Dzakpata
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