After 23 years of selfless and dedicated service to Ghana which saw him supervise six elections, former chair of the Electoral Commission Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan was left 13 months without a penny when he left office.
The Controller and Accountant General's Department ceased paying the monthly salary of the former EC chair in June 2015 and also delayed paying his gratuities due to what officials of the department say were bureaucratic processes which had to be followed.
Several calls, visits to the Comptroller by officials of the Electoral Commission and close family members to have Dr Afari-Gyan's retirement benefits paid yielded no results for 12 months.
On the 13th month after retirement, the month on which Myjoyonline.com began investigations into why the retired statesman had not been paid, officials of the Comptroller and Accountant General's Department paid the lump sum owed him with a promise to begin paying arrears of his pension in August 2016.
Background
On June 16, 2015, Dr Kwadwo Afari- Gyan bid farewell to his compatriots at the Electoral Commission where he had served for 23 years as deputy Electoral Commissioner and later as Commissioner.
Per Article 44 (2) Dr Afari Gyan was entitled to the same conditions of service as the justice of a Court of Appeal. He was an Article 71 office holder and deserved a treatment in retirement similar to how the state will treat, the president, a minister, a parliamentarian or judge in a superior court.
At the very least, he was entitled to a lump sum payment shortly after retirement. Then, he should have been paid all his unpaid salaries which he didn’t receive after going on retirement. But none of those entitlements were paid him for 13 months.
The retired EC Chairman, through relatives and officials of the Electoral Commission had chased officials of the Comptroller to have the entitlements paid but to no avail.
Sources close to Dr Afari Gyan, who did not want to be named admitted to Myjoyonline.com that the lack of payment was taking a heavy toll on the finances of the retired statesman.
He needed the money to put finishing touches to his uncompleted Haatso residence and to take care of the day-to-day expenses.
But as a statesman who did not want his situation to be made public, he chose to suffer in silence for 13 months. Within that period, Dr Afari Gyan spent most of his time at his farm.
Sources at the Electoral Commission also said officials were frustrated by the delays in the payment of Dr Afari Gyan’s benefits.
A deputy commissioner on July 22, 2016, in a text message said: " I am seriously working on it. Please help if possible."
Controller Response.
Source:joyonline.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment