Hearts of Oak board chairman Togbe Afede XIV has been praised for refusing to accept over GHC365,000 ex-gratia for serving on the Council of State between 2017 and 2020.
He believes it is inappropriate for him to receive the aforementioned sum when he already received monthly salaries for his service to the state.
The Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State issued these clarifications in response to public outrage over whether or not he followed through on his alleged refund and the reasoning behind it.
The traditional leader explained in a press statement issued on Monday that, “I did not think the payment was made to trap me, as is being speculated.”
“I believe it was paid to everybody who served on the Council of State. However, I thought that extra payment was inappropriate for a short, effectively part-time work, for which I received a monthly salary and was entitled to other privileges. So, I was very uncomfortable with it,” he added.
The businessman says he looked into ways to return the money that had been deposited into his account in July 2021, and he was successful on March 4, 2022.
“After weeks of trying, I obtained advice on how to refund inappropriate payments to the State, and on March 4, 2022, I made the refund into the Controller & Accountant General’s Department Suspense Account at the Bank of Ghana,” he said on the latest statement.
According to Togbui Afede, the move is consistent with his long-held principle of not lavishing large sums of money on public officials at the expense of the general public.
“I want to add that my rejection of the payment was consistent with my general abhorrence of the payment of huge Ex Gratia and other outrageous benefits to people who have by their own volition offered to serve our poor country,” the statement concluded.
Togbe acquired a majority stake in Hearts of Oak in 2011 after the club realised GH¢2.5 million out of the projected GH¢ 10 million from the share floatation exercise.
Under his leadership, Hearts have won the domestic treble, winning the Ghana Premier League, MTN FA Cup and Super Cup.
