First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo
• First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo says she will refund all allowances she has enjoyed since 2017
• Her decision is influenced by comments on the formalization of the report by the emolument committee
• She will refund almost GH¢900,000
Reports of the first and second ladies turning down recommendation by an emolument committee for them to be paid salaries were given some credibility after the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo in the late hours of Monday, July 12, 2021, announced that she will not want to be a beneficiary of the said arrangement.
The First Lady also said that she was going to refund all allowances she has enjoyed since her husband was sworn in as President of Ghana in 2017.
The reason is, she is making such a move due to public pressure which according to her, has seen some persons paint her as insensitive and out of touch with reality.
The First Lady says some of the commentaries on the issue have been distasteful and courted negative press for her husband’s government.
“That notwithstanding, the public discussion has been laced with some extremely negative opinions, in some cases, which she finds distasteful, seeking to portray her as a venal, self-serving and self-centered woman who does not care about the plight of ordinary Ghanaian.
“In view of this the First Lady, in consultation with the President of the Republic has decided to refund all monies paid her as allowances from the date of the President’s assumption of office i.e from January 2017 to date , amounting to GH¢899,097.84.”
“The First Lady has also decided not to accept any monies that have been allocated to be paid to her pursuant to the recommendations of the Ntiamoa-Baidu committee, as approved by Parliament. She is doing this as a purely personal decision, without prejudice to the rights of others, and not to undermine the propriety of the process undertaken by Parliament.”
Public Pressure
The immediate pressure that might have ‘broken the caramel’s back’ is a release by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) demanding a refund of allowances paid to the first and second ladies.
In a release signed by its General Secretary, Dr Yaw Baah, the TUC argued that it is unconstitutional for the first and second ladies to be paid salaries.
“It is simply not right for anyone who has not been officially assigned duties and responsibilities in the public service to receive monthly salaries.
“The Committee probably sought to regularise the payment of allowances which were being paid already. But you cannot regularize the payment of allowances which has no legal basis,” the statement read.
There are also two different suits at the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of the decision to pay to them.
Two members of the minority caucus in Parliament and the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party are behind the suits.