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The member of Parliament’s finance committee, the Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson wants the first and second ladies to reimburse the salaries that have been paid to them by the state since 2017.
As a result of the backlash the government received after it became apparent that the First Lady, Ms Rebecca Akufo-Addo and the Second Lady, Ms Samira Bawumia were to receive emoluments at the cabinet level, both rejected the offer and announced that they were going to return the allowances they have received since their husband took office.
But Ato Forson, former deputy finance minister of Face to face at Citi TV says that this action alone is not enough.
Ghanaians’ discontent, he said, did not lie in the allowances paid to them, but in the approval of recommendations to pay them salaries, equivalent to cabinet ministers.
“Returning the allowance is not what the Ghanaians have asked for. What made Ghanaians angry was the fact that they were going to be paid wages and that the wages were going to be backdated.
“What surprised me was that by the time the committee made these recommendations, it didn’t realize that they were already receiving allowances for the past four years, and backdating their salary was going to make them double anyway; that is, allowances in addition to salaries at the cabinet level, which will total approximately GHS 1.5 million. ”
“The two presidential spouses did not indicate whether they had received the money yet in the statements they released. In fact, the YOU KNOW said in a statement that they [First and Second Ladies] received the payment and gave a long list of facts that according to their checks the first and second ladies have already received their wages dating back to 2017. So who is telling us the truth? In the statement they said they were returning the allowances, what about the GHS 1.5 million they received according to our calculations? ”
Responding to calls for previous first and second ladies to repay their allowances as the current ones have done, Ato Forson said it was “unnecessary”.
He stressed that the problem in question does not relate to the allowances they receive, but to the salaries which have been proposed by the Committee on Emoluments.
Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam MP also suggested that the recommendations were sneaked into parliament.
“Unfortunately, the way the documents were presented to Parliament made it virtually impossible for the majority of MPs to read them.”
“On a normal day, this report must first be tabled in Parliament, copies being given to each Member. Reports are also given to each of us, that is, if a committee has already worked on it. And then give us 48 hours to review it before the document is presented on the floor. ”
He said he was not in Parliament when the proposal was approved.
“The day the document was approved, that is, January 7, 2021, I was not in the House, in fact, I did not know that such a proposal would be presented. Unfortunately, I would have liked to be there.
“The report came at a time when around 50% of MPs had lost their seats, and so most of them weren’t there. I think there should be reforms. The chairman should set up the committee early enough and they should complete their work within a year. You are not making such a proposal at a time when most of the members have lost their seats and are affecting their appetites to come home.
Refund
A letter from the office of the first lady, Ms Rebecca Akufo-Addo, addressed to the chief of staff and with a copy to the chief director of Jubilee House, announced that she had issued a check for GHS 899,097.84 the State to pay all allowances paid to it from January 7, 2017 to date.
This follows the controversy over presidential spouses’ emoluments which were recommended for approval by parliament.
The Second Lady, Mrs. Samira Bawumia, has also pledged to reimburse all allowances paid to her since 2017.
The recommendations for payment of emoluments were made by the five-member committee of Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu set up in June 2019 by President Nana Akufo-Addo.
But the wives of the president and vice-president are not under the auspices of Section 71 office holders.
According to the Constitution, Article 71 office holders include the President, Vice-President, Speaker of Parliament, Chief Justice and Supreme Court justices, Members of Parliament (deputies), ministers State, political candidates and civil servants with salaries charged to the Consolidated Fund but enjoying special constitutional privileges.
Recommended fees
According to the recommended emoluments, the President’s spouse should be entitled to payment of a salary equivalent to that of a Cabinet Member while in office.
After leaving office, they will be entitled to a salary equivalent to 80% of the salary of a minister of state-deputy if the spouse has served a full term as president or to 100% of the salary of a minister of state. State-deputy if the spouse served two or more full terms as president.
For the vice-president’s spouse, they will be entitled to payment of a salary equivalent to that of a non-deputy minister when in office.
After leaving office, the spouse of the vice-president will be entitled to a salary equivalent to 80 per cent of the salary of a non-deputy minister of state if the spouse has served a full term as vice-president or to 100 percent of the salary of a non-deputy Minister of State if the spouse has served two or more full terms as vice-president.
—Citinenewsroom
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