No politician should demand ex-gratia amid COVID-19 pandemic – Ablakwa

According to him, this is not the right time for any politician to be agitating for ex-gratia arrears.

Mr. Ablakwa believes the ex-gratia agenda must be relegated and priority given to the masses who are most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

READ ALSO: Don't pay 200 former MPs GH¢29.7m salary arrears - Domelevo warns Chief of Staff

The legislator was reacting to appeals from former and current Members of Parliament to be paid about GH¢29.7 million salary arrears.

“No politician should be agitating for ex-gratia arrears at this traumatic time. Auditor General Daniel Domelevo is absolutely God-sent & a true patriot,” he wrote on Twitter.

“The ex-gratia agenda should be immediately aborted and priority given to the masses who are losing jobs & livelihoods to COVID-19.”

This comes after the Chief of Staff directed for an audit verification to be conducted for the payment of salary arrears to be given to over 200 former and current MPs.

The Auditor-General, Daniel Yao Domelevo, however, disagreed and urged the government to reject the request.

Mr. Domelevo argued that the request was invalid and amounted to a conflict of interest.

This, he said, was because most of the 200 beneficiaries were now serving as members of the current government.