Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu justifies allowances for Presidential spouses

According to him, there is the need for the state to support the first and second ladies financially

He gave his reasons that the ladies of the country cannot be seeking for jobs to survive after they serve the nation adding that the first and second ladies who are already on a monthly allowance are not going to receive a monthly salary but financial support as stated by the five-member Professor Ntiamoah-Baidu Committee set up to propose emoluments for public service holders.

The Majority leader in an interview on Accra-based Peace FM said "The first ladies are already receiving allowances since 1993, but it had not been made official...this was creating issues with the Auditor General and so it was decided that legal backing will be given to it."

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and wife Rebecca Pulse Ghana

He explained why the allowance for the first and second ladies was going to be backdated to January 2017.

He also confirmed that there had been an increment in allowances for the spouses of the President and the Vice-President but that was approval given by the 7th Parliament.

The Emolument Committee

The five-member committee was set up in June 2019 by President Akufo-Addo to make recommendations to him and Parliament on the salaries and allowances payable, and the facilities and privileges available to article 71 officeholders.

Under the chairmanship of Prof. Ntiamoa-Baidu and which also had former Majority Leader and former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Abraham Ossei Aidooh, the Chief Executive of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Dr. Edward Kwapong, the current Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, and a former Managing Director, Donewell Life Insurance Co. Ltd, Mrs. Stella Segbawu, the committee had two terms of reference.

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia with Samira Pulse Ghana

They were charged to make recommendations in respect of emoluments and other privileges for article 71 officeholders, as specified under the Constitution; and also to examine any other relevant matter which the Committee deemed appropriate to its work.

A similar committee, set up in the past, was at various points chaired by Prof. Miranda Greenstreet, Mrs. Mary Chinery-Hesse, Ishmael Yamson, Prof. Marian Ewurama Addy, and Prof. Francisca Edu-Buandoh.

In inaugurating the Ntiamoa-Baidu Committee, President Akufo-Addo, then, urged them to bring to the table the work and include in their deliberations, the work, and recommendations of those previous committees to be able to establish consistencies