The government of Ghana through parliament has initiated a process to put First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Second Lady Samira Bawumia on salary for being wives of Ghana’s President and Vice respectively.
The Emoluments Committee set up by President Akufo-Addo has recommended that spouses of Heads of States and their Vices be put on salaries with the same pay grade as Cabinet Ministers. This is expected to be institutionalized for all who become wives of a Ghanaian President or Vice.
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“…The Committee recommends that the support extended to spouses of Presidents/former Presidents/Vice Presidents be regularized and included in the privileges of Presidents/Vice Presidents/Presidents/ Vice Presidents/Former Vice Presidents,” the Committee stated in their June 2020 report.
The Committee headed by Professor Yaa Ntiamoah-Baidu explained that Former President Kufuor introduced the extension of courtesies, including the payment of monthly allowances to spouses of former Heads of States/Presidents/Vice Presidents and that the gesture remained purely humanitarian and that First and Second Ladies were “evidently struggling to subsist” hence they must be rated on equal terms as cabinet ministers.
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has confirmed the news saying that “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.”
The President does not approve salaries and benefits for the Executive. Under Article 71, the First Lady and Second Lady are not office-holders, so no one can determine their benefits under that article.”
“However, a committee [on emoluments] only recommended that an arrangement for the spouses be made formal and that received approval from Parliament,” he indicated.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
The Information Minister in the interview disclosed that: “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],” the Information Minister clarified.
However, the news has sparked outrage on social media with the likes of Bridget Otoo speaking against it. ” It was only a matter of time before we were made to pay for the dresses from Pistis, makeup and the photoshoots of our hard-working First Lady and the wife of the Vice President.” the former TV3 newscaster tweeted.
NDC’s Communications Director, Sammy Gyamfi, added that “The decision to pay the wives of @NAkufoAddo and @MBawumia a monthly salary equivalent to that of a Cabinet Minister, is patently unconstitutional and reprehensible. Particularly, given the fact that they are not Article 71 Officeholders. Same must be withdrawn forthwith.”
See their posts below and more reactions from Ghanaians on Twitter about this news.
The decision to pay the wives of @NAkufoAddo and @MBawumia a monthly salary equivalent to that of a Cabinet Minister, is patently unconstitutional and reprehensible. Particularly, given the fact that they are not Article 71 Office holders. Same must be withdrawn forthwith.
— Sammy Gyamfi (@SammyGyamfi2017) July 7, 2021
It was only a matter of time before we were made to pay for the dresses from Pistis, make up and the photo shoots of our hard working First Lady and the wife of the Vice President. pic.twitter.com/smKZQ8yhwX
— Cement Slayer (@Bridget_Otoo) July 7, 2021
???????? https://t.co/iNx0TZPa5e pic.twitter.com/ZYeJlrEk5d
— Cement Slayer (@Bridget_Otoo) July 7, 2021
So you married your own wife with the consent of the your individual families(without telling Ghanaians anything whichever yr that was) and many yrs later we(Ghanaians) should use our small aggregated taxes to give her salary arh NADAA for what exactly? staying grace or what? https://t.co/VvX15fSXe3 pic.twitter.com/2EhJNbR1K0
— Komla KOPITE (@qhomlah) July 7, 2021
Everyday you people won’t keep quiet about @SBawumia ‘s make up, hair and photo shoots. You see now @NAkufoAddo is making us pay her for looking good ?
I won’t be surprised if she starts serving us three photos per day. Go get them Ma’am. Keep slaying on our money ????
— Cement Slayer (@Bridget_Otoo) July 7, 2021
After showering in the sky,causing $170m,$15m,$70m judgement debts to Ghana, Akufo Addo and Bawumia are preparing to pay their wives from Ghana’s money for having sex with them keke ?
— ANNAN PERRY ARHIN (@AnnanPerry) July 7, 2021
So is it that,the president is so incompetent that he can’t even give her wife monthly salary unless he takes it from the public purse?@NAkufoAddo ne n’aban mo dwi mo ho paaa ooo
I will protect the public purse no nyinaa na wob3 fom ama w’abusua fo)
)man yi ny3 hia man ampa pic.twitter.com/1fs4JKszcM
— PEPPY❤️? (@JMbapeppy) July 7, 2021
New NABCO workers.
ALLAWA LADIES
BACK PAY FROM 2017 TILL NOW pic.twitter.com/RBh5UaI1nN
— PRINCE HENRY KOFORIDUA ??? (@tabi_henry) July 7, 2021
How does Rebecca feel as First Lady – she’s going to collect Gh¢ 7.4m as back pay just for being the wife of Mr Akufo-Addo. How does she feel that women across the country deliver their children on bare floors and she’ll collect Gh¢ 7.4m of these women’s monies for doing nothing.
— Che?????? (@CheEsquire) July 7, 2021
This is not the way. This is not only disturbing and distasteful. It's is disrespectful. https://t.co/wfCSpDJn5u
— N.B.A (@Boakyewaa_N) July 7, 2021
Make dem pay university graduate with no experience 20k ana ?
for what exactly, buying Waakye ?Without spouses our leaders will sell Ghana to Chinese & use proceeds on slay queens ?
Trust me the pay is worth it, without Samira, Dr Bawumia wouldn't be doing well with our economy https://t.co/hR5HgurNHk— mR sA!Nt (@MrSaint__) July 7, 2021
