Minority Hunts First Lady For Interest On Refunded Allowances

The Minority in Parliament is demanding interest and s probe into the accounts of the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, by the Auditor-General following her recent announcement that she was refunding some GHS899,097.84 in allowances paid to her since 2017.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday evening, the Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi, said there was the need for clarity on the use of the allowance and the exact source of the repaid amount as well as related interests on the funds.

Avedzi stated: “Since 2017 that she started taking this salary, does it mean that she doesn’t spend the money and she kept the money in her account all this while? If the answer is yes; it means that she did not need this money so why did she take the money in the first place?”

In addition, he said, “all state funding of her NGO should be audited by the Auditor-General and all that money should be refunded to the state because she is not interested in receiving state support.”

For transparency’s sake, he said the Auditor General will also “ascertain that there is sufficient money in her account so that the cheque that the has issued will not bounce.”

First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo had been forced to cough up the said allowances after it massive public backlash when it became apparent that she and the Second Lady, Samira Bawumia have been earning over GHC 33,000 equivalent to the salary of a Cabinet Minister since last year and that the amount had been backdated to 2017.

This follows a contentious recommendation by the infamous Prof. Yaa Ntiamoah-Baidu that First and Second Ladies should be paid like other high-ranking appointed public officials.

The committee clandestinely sneaked in that recommendation despite its unconstitutionality.

The ensuing backlash if what forced the First and Second Ladies to back down on receiving such huge salaries monthly.