• He indicated that Ghanaians need to whether or not she spent the money paid into her account
• He, however, demanded interest accrued on the refunded money
The Minority caucus in parliament is calling for a probe into the accounts of the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and whether or not she spent the monies paid into her account.
They also want an audit into the accounts of the wife of the vice president, Samira Bawumia.
This follows a decision by Mrs Akufo-Addo and Hajia Bawumia to refund any amount paid to them since the assumption of the Alufo-Addo-led NPP government.
According to the Minority, the Auditor-General (A-G) must compute interest accrued on the refunded GH¢899,097.84 by First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo and the expected GH¢887,482 from Samira Bawumia.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, July 13, the Deputy Minority Leader said, the source of the reimbursed monies must be verified by the Auditor-General.
James Klutse Avedzi explained, it is important for Ghanaians to know whether or not the monies paid to the First Lady and the wife of the vice president were spent or are still in their accounts.
He said, “since 2017 that she started receiving this salary, does it mean that she doesn’t spend the money and all this while the money was sitting in her account? If yes, that means she didn’t need the money, so why did she take the money in the first place?”
“And if that is the case, whilst refunding the money now, you must also compute the interest that the money would have accrued and pay it to the government.
So, we are calling on the Auditor-General to go into the accounts of the First Lady and the [Wife of the Vice President] to ascertain that the money being refunded is the actual money they received,” Avedzi stressed.
Background
A recommendation by the Prof Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu-led Presidential Committee on Emoluments for Article 71 officeholders has received massive backlash from the general public.
The committee had recommended that the First Lady be paid a salary equivalent to a cabinet minister who is a Member of Parliament (MP) while her husband is in office and the Payment of a salary equivalent to 80% of the salary of a Minister of State who is a Member of Parliament (MP) if the spouse served one full term as President or 100% of the salary of a Minister of State who is a Member of Parliament (MP) if the spouse served two or more full terms as President.
The committee further suggested that the Second Lady be paid a salary equivalent to a cabinet minister who is not an MP while her husband is in office and the Payment of a salary equivalent to 80% of the salary of a Minister of State who is not a Member of Parliament (MP) if the spouse served one full term as President or 100% of the salary of a Minister of State who is a Member of Parliament (MP) if the spouse served two or more full terms as Vice President.
Subsequently, both the First and Second ladies have rejected the offer.
The First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo has disclosed her intentions “to refund all 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 ¢899,097.84.”
Samira Bawumia, on the other hand, has also disclosed her intentions to refund all allowances paid to her since the inception of the Akufo-Addo-led administration.
She is expected to refund a total of ¢887,482 to the state following this decision.
Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Samira Bawumia