Mills orders payment of Kufuor’s salary

By Samuel Kofi Ampah

The Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa, has confirmed moves by the presidency to ensure the payment of salary arrears of the former President and vice President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor and Aliu Mahama.

In an interview on Joy FM, a private radio station in Accra,the minister said the presidency was not aware of this unfortunate situation until it was aired. The President immediate issued instructions to the Controller & Accountant General to effect payment.

Ghanaians were stunned on Friday morning when news broke out that Former Presiden, J. A Kufuor and former Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, have not been paid their monthly salaries since they left office six months ago.

The Mail newspaper broke the story in their Friday edition that apart from the entitlements stated in the Chinery-Hesse report, the two Statesmen were entitled to a monthly pay. The paper stated that the workers of the two statesmen, who revealed this to the paper said, “Whenever we contact the presidency, we are told there is no money.”

The former Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama has nt been a victim of any harsh treatment, unlike Mr. Kufuor who has been at the receiving end of what his supporters call unfair treatments.

Mr. Kufuor had his cars taken away from him about two months ago and only last Tuesday, his office was taken away from him by the Bureau of National Security(BNI). The BNI claimed the office building was theirs.

The former president’s occupation of that building had engendered bitter public debates as different parties took sides to either castigate him for taking national property allegedly without following proper procedure or defend his action because he deserved it.

Several groups, including the Ga-Dangme Youth, Minority in Parliament, Ga-Dangme Forward Movement, Osu Traditional Council and the Patriots for the Protection of Western Region Heritage all joined in the debate over the propriety or otherwise of the acquisition.

Contrary to what the Former President and his cronies are going through, the Mail shows that a month into the Kufuor Administration in 2001, the then Former President, Mr. Rawlings, his Vice, who is now the President of Ghana, Professor Atta Mills and their workers, were paid their entitlement.

Not only were their monthly salaries paid regularly but Former President Rawlings was given an office of his choice.

“Immediately after Kufuor’s administration took over, we wrote to Mr. Rawlings asking for an account to pay his money in, but he did not provide that to us. Nevertheless, we sent him his cheque every month,” a source close to the former President told the Mail.