Mrs. Samira Bawumia, the Second Lady, has also rejected the increased emoluments authorized by Parliament, promising to return all allowances given to her since 2017.
“The Second Lady, H.E. Samira Bawumia, in consultation with H.E. the Vice President, will refund all allowances paid to her since 2017, and will not accept any monies allocated to her pursuant to the recommendations of the Prof. Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu led committee, as approved by Parliament on January 6th, 2021,” said a statement signed by Kwame Twum, Senior Aide to the Second Lady.
Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, the First Lady, refused the emoluments allocated to her the day before.
The First Lady has also agreed to return the GHS899,097.84 she was paid during that time.
Background
The administration has been reprimanded when it was revealed that a proposal for monthly wages for the First and Second Ladies had previously been accepted by Parliament.
Ghanaians were even more outraged when it was revealed that the First and Second Ladies would be paid the same as cabinet members.
The five-member Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu committee was appointed by President Nana Akufo-Addo in June 2019 to provide recommendations on the wages and other benefits of Article 71 officeholders.
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Lawsuits against allowances for presidential spouses
To contest the payments, two lawsuits have already been filed at the Supreme Court.
The opposition National Democratic Congress, as well as the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), have both announced that they would take the matter to court.
Attempts to include first and second ladies as officeholders under Article 71 are problematic’ – Mahama
Former President John Dramani Mahama has previously expressed his displeasure with the Akufo-Addo administration’s handling of emoluments for the wives of current and former Presidents and Vice Presidents.
Mr. Mahama said in a statement that the Akufo-Addo administration is trying to “sneak the First and Second Ladies into the article 71 office holders’ group,” which he described as “obviously problematic.”
Mr. Mahama went on to say that the additional emoluments are equivalent to changing a constitutional provision without due process.
“Article 71 is an entrenched provision in the 1992 Constitution, and nothing short of a referendum, as per article 290 of the Constitution, may be utilized to modify or vary that section,” he said.
“The Committee, and indeed the government, cannot use a shortcut to go around well-established constitutional rules,” he said.
Presidential wives have no set duties and are not compensated. TUC – Trade Union Congress
The Ntiamoa-Baidu Committee’s proposal that spouses of Presidents and Vice Presidents be given monthly wages was similarly rejected by the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
The organization claimed that the wives are “not eligible to earn wages from the public purse” since the constitution does not give them any particular responsibilities.
Source: ATLMFNEWSROOM
