Member of Parliament (MP) for Okaikwei Central Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah has stated that first and second ladies of the Republic deserve to be remunerated because the functions they perform are priceless.
According to him, they perform serious duties for the state that contribute to the development of the country.
He described public agitation on the government’s decision to formally put the spouses of the President and the Vice on an official payment scale as propaganda.
“I’m sure somebody somewhere wanted to ‘Fix the country’ with some propaganda so the best way is to resurrect something that has always been there,” he stated.
In an interview, Mr Boamah argued that the public should rather approach the matter from the value these two bring to the country.
The small tokens they receive, he said, should not be the subject of the discussion but how they contribute to the development of the country and the well-being of the people, especially the vulnerable in society.
The Okaikwei Central MP was speaking on Parliament’s approval of the Professor Yaa Ntiamoah Baidoo Emolument Committee report that recommended salaries for the First and Second Ladies.
The government adopted the recommendation, which was subsequently approved by the 7th Parliament.
The new arrangement will see the spouses of the first and second gentlemen officially being paid salaries, which is a departure from the previous practice of paying them allowances.
The decision has however courted public agitation and sparking debate why spouses of the president and vice should receive formal payment from the state.
However, the Okaikwei Central MP argued this is no big deal because the state already pays them some allowance and so if it is made formal it just helps settle grey matters.
Their contributions and what they bring to the table, he stressed, should guide this debate and not the monetary aspect.
“Look at what Mrs. Rawlings did; look at what Mrs. Kufuor did; look at what Mrs. Atta-Mills did; look at what Mrs. Mahama did and look at what Mrs. Akufo-Addo is doing.
“Can you imagine a female president not supporting the husband to help achieve a certain aspect of the nation’s needs or his ambitions in the health or education sector,” he quizzed?
Mr Boamah noted that various non-governmental organizations are able to channel supplies through foundations set up by the first and second ladies that benefit the Ghanaian society.
He averred that certain aspects of the functions they perform could be humanitarian but argued they also perform official functions that are recognized internationally, which is why they are invited to speak at certain sessions at the United Nations.
“The world has gotten to appreciate their roles and it is not only in Ghana. ECOWAS First Ladies, African First Ladies. And when they go to the United Nations, their spouses are there and they hold different sessions for them so that they can also contribute a certain important quota to the development of their respective countries and the world at large,” he said.
According to him, what they will be paid is nothing extraordinary but stressed that judging from the value they bring to the country, this is an appropriate action.
