The Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State and past President of the National House of Chiefs, Togbe Afede XIV, has responded to state-sponsored attacks on him by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s hatchet man, Paul Adom Otchere.
In a statement to the public, Togbe Afede challenged the ranting Adom-Otchere to provide evidence to his claims that he [Togbe Afede] does not merit any accolades for his decision to return the obscene Ghc360,000 paid to him as ex-gratia because he was mostly absent from Council of State meetings.
“We ordinarily would not respond to comments from Paul Adom-Otchere, knowing who he is. But while we ponder a more suitable reaction, specific allegations he made cannot be ignored: The numbers Paul Adom-Otchere presented on Togbe’s attendance at meetings of the Council of State are both incorrect and misleading and are a disingenuous attempt to discredit Togbe’s performance at the Council. We challenge him to provide the Council’s attendance register from which he compiled his numbers for all to know the truth,” Togbe’s statement said.
On Tuesday, while Togbe was receiving commendations from around the country and even overseas for rejecting the obscene ex-gratia, Adom Otchere clambered on his Good Evening Ghana show to sing the discord for the shamed Jubilee House.
Among others, the sellout journalist claimed that Togbe had received loans from the government while serving on the Council of State, received transportation allowances and claimed the Togbe had said ex-gratia payments were illegal.
A disrespectful Adom Otchere also accused the revered King of Asogli of rejecting the ex-gratia as a matter of partisan political populism.
Already, Ghanaians on social media are lambasting the glaring hatchet job by Adom-Otchere who was recently caught in fraudulent procurement of Christmas trees for the Kotoka International Airport.
For many, his motives are fueled by the fact that both he and his wife have been given appointments by the Akufo-Addo government – the sellout journalist sits on the Airports Company Board as Chairman.