First and Second ladies, Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Samira Bawumia
General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu has taken a swipe at Ghanaians over their comments compelling the First and Second Ladies of the Republic to refund their allowances.
First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Second Lady Samira Bawumia have both returned their monies to the State following a public backlash regarding the Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu Committee recommendations for the two leading women to officially receive monthly salaries.
The Committee report was submitted to President Nana Akufo-Addo in fulfilment of Article 71 provision of the 1992 Constitution which enjoins every sitting President, before the end of his four-year mandate, to set up a Committee to make recommendations on the emoluments for Article 71 office holders.
As part of the report, they recommended the payment of a salary equivalent to a Cabinet Minister who is a Member of Parliament (MP) to the First Lady while her husband is in office and with the Second Lady, the payment of a salary equivalent to a Cabinet Minister who is not a Member of Parliament (MP) was recommended for her while her husband is in office.
1st/2nd Ladies Return Allowances
First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, in a statement dated 12th July 2021, decided ”not to accept any monies that have been allocated to be paid to her pursuant to the recommendations of the Prof. Yaa Ntiamoa-Badu Committee, as approved by Parliament”.
She was moved to refund her money following what she terms as “extremely negative opinions” from critics seeking to portray her as a “self-serving and self-centered woman”.
Therefore, she “in consultation with the President of the Republic, has decided to refund all monies paid to 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.”
Mrs. Bawumia also indicated she will refund GH¢ 887,482 she’s received as allowances from January 2017 to March 2021.
John Boadu Blasts Ghanaians
However, after the wives of the sitting President and Vice President have refunded their allowances, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority says they should pay interest on the refund.
A section of the general public too have taken the act by the First and Second Ladies with a pinch of salt as they don’t believe in the authenticity of the action by the President and Veep’s wives.
In reply, John Boadu has sought to find out what the real problem of Ghanaians are because, to him, the refund should be enough to rest the case.
He questioned the logic in lambasting Mrs. Akufo-Addo and Mrs. Bawumia, not allowing them to enjoy their peace of mind even after they refunding their allowances.
“What is strange to me is that those who spoke against it also asked why she refunded the money and I replied; ‘so what do we want?’ The very people who were out there making all the comments fueled by John Mahama’s comments as well and now she has refunded it too, some say why did she refund. Others even say it’s not true she’s refunded it. I believe we should have patience for some of these things, he fumed on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’.