Ghana First Lady offers to refund allowances received from 2017 till date

The First Lady of Ghana, Rebecca Akufo-Addo has rejected her monthly salary and has decided to give back the state all the allowances she has received since the president assumed office in 2017.

Mrs Akufo-Addo also added that she would not accept a salary that was recently approved by the country’s parliament, adding that she did not ask to be paid and had only received that which existed and attached to her status.

Last week, Ghanaians expressed anger at the decision by MPs to approve salaries for the wives of the president and vice-president for the supportive role they play, and the outrage of Ghanaians in a way influenced her decision.

They were set to receive about $3,500 a month, the same amount as cabinet ministers following a 2019 recommendation by a parliamentary committee.

A statement signed by the Director of Communications at the Office of the First Lady, Mrs Akufo-Addo read in parts: "The 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 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 GHC 899,097.84.

"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."