"Kufuor Should Formally Go To Government For Ex-Gratia"

The Propaganda Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Richard Quashigah, has advised the office of ex-president Kufuor to formally reach to the government to trash out issues concerning his ex-gratia. He is optimistic that doing this would help cure the problems surrounding the payment of the former president�s entitlements. He was reacting to reports that Okaikoi South MP, Nana Akomea raised the issue about Mr Kufuor�s ex-gratia on the floor of parliament when the house debated contents of President Mills� State of the Nation address. Speaking on Metro TV�s Good Morning Ghana programme Thursday, Mr Quashigah conceded that the controversies surrounding the former president�s emoluments smack of pettiness on Ghanaians as a people. He chastised Nana Akomea for being ignorant in raising the issue in parliament as if the government has totally ignored the matter. Mr Quashigah said the government has offered some things to the former president which has consistently been rejected. �Frank Agyekum (spokesperson for the former president) has a penchant of rejecting anything that has been sent to [ex-president John Agyekum Kufuor],� he charged. And the NDC propaganda secretary maintains this is just �a calculated, mischievous attempt to win public sympathy for the former president.� He was optimistic that if the office of the former president meets the government over the issue, it could be clarified to the understanding of both parties. Meanwhile, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, who was a co-panelist on the programme, noted that the whole ex-gratia controversy is a demonstration that President Mills� regime amounts to mediocrity, vindictiveness and confusion.