Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has explained that the payment of allowances to spouses of Presidents and Vice Presidents is not a new thing
According to him, the allowance payments were instituted under the Kufuor administration, but were only being formalised by the current government.
President Kufuor, in his wisdom, instituted this because of the bad situations of some spouses of some former heads of states then. President Mills and Mahama even increased the rates of these benefits during their time
he said
Meanwhile, this payment which has come into effect will be backdated from 2017 when the NPP government came to power to 2021 and paid to them.
While the payment of allowances to the First and Second Ladies is not new, Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has clarified the new move by saying:
The truth of the matter is that all surviving spouses of Heads of State, current and former, have always received salaries. Lordina Mahama, Naadu Mills, Matilda Amissah-Arthur, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, Faustina Acheampong, Fulera Liman etc have all been receiving salaries since President Kufuor’s time
What has happened now is that the arrangement has been made formal, but that was done legally based on the recommendation by the Emoluments Committee [in 2019]
he added
However, should the First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Second Lady Samira Bawumia be paid their backdated salary from 2017 to June 2021, this is a projection of what they are supposed to take home:
First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo
Basic Salary: GH¢21,000
Allowance Per Month: 87,000
Backdated Salary 2017 to June 2021: GH¢1, 134,000
Backdated Allowance 2017 to June 2021: GH¢6,345,000
Total: GH¢7,479,048
Second Lady Samira Bawumia
Basic Salary: GH¢21,000
Allowance Per Month: 87,000
Backdated Salary 2017 to June 2021: GH¢1, 134,000
Backdated Allowance 2017 to June 2021: GH¢6,345,000
Total: GH¢7,479,048
Remember, Allowances paid are always higher than basic salaries.
