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Supreme Court Rules On Allowance Payment to Spouses of Presidents, Vice On May 4
The Supreme Court will on May 4, 2022, give judgment in the case challenging the payment of monthly allowance to spouses of the President and the Vice President.
There was a huge debate and anger in Ghana when Parliament voted mid-last year on an amendment to the Prof. Ntiamoah-Baidu Committee to give wives of the President and Vice-President almost $47,000 during the tenure of their husbands in office.
The proposed amount was calculated to be equal to the salary of a Cabinet Minister. Many Ghanaians spoke up against the development, compared to what was popularly described as deteriorating economic conditions of the ordinary man.
Subsequently, two Members of Parliament; Rockson Nelson Etse Dafeamekpor (South Dayi), Dr. Clement Apak (Builsa South), and a private citizen, Frederick Nii Commey, took the matter to the Supreme Court for pronouncement.
They argue that the Prof. Ntiamoah-Baidu Committee overstepped its bounds when it made recommendations in respect of salaries, allowances payable, facilities, and privileges not just limited to Article 71 office holders under the 1992 Constitution, but also extended to spouses of the President and Vice President, as well as spouses of former Presidents and Vice Presidents.
Their lawyer, Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, insists that the 1st and 2nd Ladies are not Article 71 Office Holders and to that extent prays the Supreme Court to declare those portions of the Committee’s report relating to them as unconstitutional, as such, null, void, and of no effect.
In his written submission to the Court, Nii Kpakpo Samoa maintains that extending courtesies including the payment of allowances to 1st and 2nd Ladies whether past or present remains purely humanitarian and without any legal basis.
