Assembly Members lock up District Coordinating Director, Finance Officer over unpaid Ex-gratia

A dramatic scene unfolded at the Twifo Atti-Morkwa District Assembly in the Central Region on Tuesday 31st December, 2024 as former assembly members who served from 2019-2023 locked up the District Coordinating Director, Mr. Awal Suahini, and the District Finance Officer, Mr. Peter Apan over delayed ex-gratia.

The aggrieved assembly members were demanding their ex-gratia payments, which had been delayed since 2019.

According to Augustine Appiah, spokesperson for the ex-assembly members, the District Coordinating Director and the Finance Officer had invited them to collect their payments.

However, when they arrived, they were told that only GH¢2,000 out of the total amount of GH¢4,000 would be paid, with the remaining balance to be paid the following month.

“The assembly members of about fourty-two (42) agreed to this proposal but were left waiting for three hours without receiving their payments”.

When they confronted the District Coordinating Director and the Finance Officer, they were informed that the payment would be ready on Thursday 2nd January, 2025.

“This response angered the ex-assembly members, leading to the locking up of the two officers until they received their payments”, Mr Appiah lamented.

The police eventually intervened, rescuing the officers, and the ex-assembly members finally received their GH¢2,000 payments around 5:30 pm.