Bungalow row: Mahama disrespected Ghanaians – Casely-Hayford

A member of pressure group OccupyGhana, Sydney Casely-Hayford, has said former president Mahama was disappointing and disrespectful to the people of Ghana for requesting state bungalow and an office as part of his retirement package.

According to him the state is not setting a good precedent by taking away properties of the state and giving it away to individuals who have been pampered for over four years in office.

“What didn’t former president Mahama get from this country for four years, he had a home, an office taken care of and he had cars available to him with free fuel as well as free travels wherever he went to. He also took holidays in Dubai, South Africa including free access to everything this country can afford,” he lamented.

According to Sydney Casely-Hayford, apart from all these juicy benefits, the state also paid John Mahama a fat salary and therefore the he was not fair to the state in his request.

Speaking on Citi FM’s ‘Big Issues’, the Financial Analyst who was clearly not happy about former president Mahama’s move reiterated, “the fact that something is in the constitution doesn’t mean that it has to be done, Mahama himself knows the state coffers are dry and we are a bankrupt country, why do you want to take this property to yourself from the people of Ghana?, he queried.

He also added that, it is not the nations’ responsibility to pamper he [Mahama] till he dies after voting him as the president of the republic.

There was huge public outcry when it became public that the former President Mahama had refused to leave the bungalow meant for the country’s Vice Presidents. The situation was reported to have left the sitting Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia stranded.

But in a letter dated January 10,2017 and signed by the former President Mahama himself has redrawn the request for the continuous stay in the facility.