The government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s minister for information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has indicated that he does not receive any additional compensation for his position.
He asserts that the government does not pay ministers who are also lawmakers a special salary or allowance.
In response to questions about the size of the government, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah made it clear that the public’s attention should not just be on the budget for salaries, but also on how money is allocated between political appointees and non-political government employees.
He emphasized that both categories are covered by the compensation budget, with a sizable share going to non-political appointees like police officers and rotating nurses.
“If you discuss how big the government is…I think you’re referring to the amount of the compensation budget, particularly the funds allocated for paying public employees. When you talk about the compensation budget, there is one element of it that deals with people who are not political appointees, like the ones I have been addressing this morning, the rotational nurses, police, and others.but I think the one that’s being discussed involves political appointments.
“It is true that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo provided an explanation for why he selected a particular number of ministers, but he also included a clause in which he stated that the majority of the ministers he has appointed are Members of Parliament, and since they receive no additional compensation because they are Members of Parliament, the taxpayer is not burdened with any additional costs.
Because of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s policy, if you are a Member of Parliament and he appoints you as a minister or deputy minister, it is not even up to you to decide whether you want this or not; you get paid on your MP salary. For me, about whom I am speaking to you, they don’t pay me one cedi in my capacity as minister of state. So when people argue about the size of the government, the majority of ministers who are also Members of Parliament don’t receive more compensation, he remarked.
He further emphasized that President Akufo-Addo’s policy stipulates that if an MP is chosen to serve as a minister or deputy minister, they continue to be paid based on their existing MP salary and as a result, no additional burden is placed on taxpayers in an interview with Peace FM’s Kokrokoo on May 19, 2023.