The first lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and the second lady, Samira Bawumia will start to receive salaries from the government of Ghana.
This comes after the government adopted a recommendation by an emolument committee which was approved by the seventh parliament.
According to the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the previous parliament approved the new arrangement.
He noted;
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“The President does 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 only recommended that an arrangement for the spouses be made formal and that received approval from Parliament,” he indicated. Oppong Nkrumah referenced some practices in the past where the allowances for the spouses of first and second ladies were increased by the executive arm of government.
“President Kufuor, in his wisdom, instituted this because of the bad situations of some spouses of some former Heads of States then. Presidents Mills and Mahama even increased the rates of these benefits during their time.
“The truth of the matter is that all surviving spouses of Heads of State, current and former, have always received salaries. 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.”
