Refunding of all monies paid to me is ‘purely personal decision’ – First Lady

• Rebecca Akufo-Addo has decided to refund all monies paid to her since 2017

• She said she is doing that as a personal decision

• She said she doesn't want the ongoing discussion to be a distraction from the good work her husband is doing to develop Ghana

First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo says she has taken a personal decision to refund about GH¢900,000.00 paid to her as allowances since her husband, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was sworn into office on January 7, 2017.

According to her, the decision is a “purely personal decision, without prejudice to the rights of others, and not to undermine the propriety of the process undertaken by parliament”.

Mrs Akufo-Addo indicated that, she came up with this decision because of the ongoing public discussion on the recent recommendation by the Prof Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu-led Presidential Committee on Emoluments for Article 71 officeholders.

In a statement signed by Korkor Bleboo, Director of Communications, Office of the First Lady stated, “...public discussion has been laced with some extremely negative opinions, in some cases, which she finds distasteful, seeking to portray her as a venal, self-serving and self-centred woman, who does not care about the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian.

In view of this, The First Lady, in consultation with the President of the Republic, has decided to refund all the monies paid to her as allowances from the date of the President’s assumption of office, i.e., from January 2017 to date, amounting to GH¢899,097.84.

The First Lady has also decided not to accept any monies that have been allocated to be paid to her, pursuant to the recommendations of the Ntiamoa-Baidu committee, as approved by Parliament. She is doing this as a purely personal decision, without prejudice to the rights of others, and not to undermine the propriety of the process undertaken by Parliament.”

The statement further stressed; the First Lady does not want matters regarding monies to be paid to her as salaries to “serve as a distraction from the good work that the president [...] is doing to develop our dear nation.”

“The First Lady will continue to support the President, as she has always done, in the execution of the mandate entrusted to him by the good people of Ghana,” the statement concluded.