BY Daniel Bampoe
Nearly a year after their abrupt dismissal from office, former Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) appointed under ex-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo have renewed pressure on the Mahama-led government over unpaid end-of-service benefits (ESB), raising concerns about fairness, political continuity, and respect for administrative norms.
The alarm was raised by the Dean of the former MMDCEs and ex-District Chief Executive for Achiase, Richmond Amponsah, who expressed deep worry in an interview on Adom FM.
According to him, many of the dismissed MMDCEs are facing severe financial hardships due to the government’s failure to release their legally entitled benefits, despite all required administrative processes having been completed months ago.
Amponsah explained that following the January 8, 2025 dismissal of the Akufo-Addo-appointed MMDCEs, the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development constituted a committee to work on the computation of their end-of-service benefits.
This was done on the directive of the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, and upon advice from the Attorney-General, in line with established public service procedures.
He noted that the committee successfully concluded its work, after which the figures were audited by the Auditor-General.
The final audited document was subsequently submitted by the Local Government Ministry to the Ministry of Finance as far back as July 2025 for payment.
However, despite this, the Ministry of Finance has allegedly refused to release the funds.
According to the former DCE, the Chief of Staff has since issued two separate directives to both the Ministries of Local Government and Finance, urging them to treat the matter with urgency to enable the payment of the former MMDCEs.
These directives, he said, have so far not yielded any results, leaving the affected officials in limbo.
Amponsah stressed that by January 8, 2026, it will be exactly one year since the former MMDCEs were removed from office, far exceeding the usual six-month window within which end-of-service benefits are normally paid.
He contrasted the current situation with events in 2017, when President Akufo-Addo, shortly after assuming office, settled the end-of-service benefits of former MMDCEs appointed under President John Dramani Mahama by June 2017—barely five months after their dismissal.
“This precedent makes the current delay even more worrying,” he said, arguing that administrative transitions should not result in undue suffering for public officers who served the state.
The issue has resurfaced amid broader national debate over remuneration at the local government level.
Recently reports emerged that the John Mahama administration had approved a significant upward adjustment in the salaries of serving MMDCEs—from about GH₵5,000 under the Akufo-Addo administration to as much as GH₵35,000 per month.
This development has sparked public outrage, particularly when juxtaposed with the government’s reported difficulties in meeting demands from other public sector workers, including nurses and teachers.
Earlier, in mid-2024, a group of about 134 former MMDCEs had already threatened collective action, claiming they were owed end-of-service benefits and installation grants reportedly exceeding GH₵100,000 each.
Their renewed agitation now adds a political dimension to the debate, with critics accusing the government of prioritising generous pay increases for current appointees while neglecting outstanding obligations to former officials.
