Following ratification by Parliament, the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has announced that the spouses of the President and Vice-President would henceforth receive official wages and allowances.
The provision of allowances to the First Lady and Second Lady, he claims, is not a new occurrence.
He revealed that the allowance payments had been in place since the Kufuor era, but had just recently been formalized by the present administration.
“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,” Kojo Oppong Nkrumah to Daily Graphic.
“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.”
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Mr. Oppong Nkrumah also slammed reports that President Akufo-Addo had approved his wife, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and Dr. Bawumia’s wife, Mrs. Samira Bawumia, to be paid the same as Cabinet members.
“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.
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