Former President John Mahama has said he will scrap the payment of ex-gratia for Article 71 office holders if elected in the 2024 general election.
He stated that, Ghana needs a leader who does not see the national purse as a manifestation of his birth right.
“The payment of ex-gratia to members of the executive will be scrapped. The necessary Constitutional steps to do this will start in earnest in 2025. We will also persuade members of the other arms of government to accept its removal,” Mr Mahama said.
He made the comment during the campaign launch at Sokode in Ho ahead of the flagbearership elections of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Thursday, March 2, 2024.
The former President, however, also promised to restore the trust in state institutions by addressing “issues pertaining to the exercise of powers of the president, proper separation of powers, strengthening of Parliament, restoring the independence of the judiciary, independent and quasi-state institutions and depoliticising them.”
Mr Mahama also took a swipe at Akufo-Addo’s government for worsening the poverty levels in the country.
The “cluelessness and the harrowing dismantling of our progress by the NPP government has damaged and killed many bright dreams of the country.”