Former President John Dramani Mahama has resurrected the discussion on the payment of his emoluments as an ex-Ghanaian leader.
According to Mr Mahama, he is entitled to some benefits according to Parliament but those entitlements have been withheld because he is politically active.
“I’ve been Vice President before, I’ve been President of this country before, according to parliament, I’m supposed to receive all kinds of emoluments to pay my fuel and my electricity bill, my water bill, medical bills, air travel, vehicles, everything but I can assure you that all those emoluments have been withheld because I’m politically active,” he said.
Mr Mahama reiterated this in his interaction with his former appointees in Accra on Wednesday, 23 February 2023, where he called on them to come out of retirement and join him in the fight to reclaim power in 2024.
“If I was retired and not commenting on national issues, I would have all those emoluments paid but it doesn’t bother me, because of my new granddaughter and my children, I believe that the future of this country is one that we must rescue from the hands of this looting brigade and reset the Ghanaian project, bring back good governance, strengthen the fight against corruption, put in place the things that will make it impossible for another president to come and land us in the same ditch that we currently are, and so I’m the first to announce to you that even though I was retired in 2016, I’ve come out of retirement and I’m available for the task ahead.”
Last year, Mr Mahama made similar comments about his emoluments.
He had said in an interview with Accra-based TV3 on Monday, 12 September 2022, that: “I receive only my monthly pension, like President Kufuor or President Rawlings was receiving until he died. That is all I get.”
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“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 had noted that the only lump sum he received was “¢230,000 as salary arrears in 2013”.
However, the governing New Patriotic Party described Mr Mahama’s claims as false.
The party at the time said it had evidence of correspondence between former President Mahama’s office and the Chief of Staff contradicting his claims.