Rebecca Akufo-Addo will put her husband into trouble – Asiedu Nketia

General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has said First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo is putting his husband, President Akufo-Addo, into trouble over the refund of her allowances.

The First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, announced Tuesday the release of a cheque of GHS899,097.84 to the State to settle all allowances paid to her from January 7, 2017, to date.

This comes after a public uproar over the government’s decision to pay her and the Vice President’s wife, Samira Bawumia monthly salaries equivalent to Cabinet Ministers.

Parliament had approved a recommendation by a five-member committee which was set up in June 2019 by President Akufo-Addo, to him and to Parliament on the salaries and allowances First or Second Spouses.

Speaking on the Gumber show hosted by Mugabe Maase on TV XYZ, Asiedu Nketia noted that Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, had earlier indicated that the last Parliament approved the recommendations by the Prof Ntiamoah-Baidu-led committee to pay the salaries to the First Lady and Second Lady.

Oppong Nkrumah is quoted to have said, “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.”

To this end, Asiedu Nketia questioned where Mrs. Akufo-Addo got the funds to return to the state as allowances received since 2017.

“What she has done will put his husband into trouble,” Asiedu Nketia noted and asked, “Are the funds she refunded what Oppong Nkrumah talked about or where is she getting them from.”

Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament is demanding a probe into the accounts of the First Lady.

They are asking the Auditor-General to probe her account after she announced the release of a cheque of GHS899,097.84 to the State to settle all allowances paid to her since January 7, 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.

“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?” he quizzed.

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.”