Kow Essuman Accuses Mahama Government of Discriminatory Treatment Over Staff Salary Arrears

Former Legal Counsel to former President Nana Akufo-Addo, Kow Essuman, has levelled a pointed accusation at the Mahama administration, alleging that it has unfairly withheld salary arrears and benefits owed to former presidential staffers and political appointees who served under the previous government.

Speaking through a Facebook post on Thursday, June 11, Mr Essuman directly challenged claims that salary adjustments approved shortly before the change of government had already been disbursed to officials of the Akufo-Addo administration. He insisted that while approvals were indeed granted, the former presidential staffers have yet to receive the salaries and benefits legitimately owed to them.

At the heart of Mr Essuman’s complaint is what he characterises as a two-tier system of compensation. Current government officials, he argued, are benefiting from the same salary structure that was approved before the transition, while their predecessors remain excluded from receiving the arrears. He described this situation as discriminatory, suggesting it amounts to selective implementation of a policy that should apply uniformly.

The accusation touches on a sensitive dimension of Ghana’s governance framework: the treatment of political appointees during transitions of power. Public officials who served under the previous administration, Mr Essuman contended, are entitled to payments that were lawfully approved before they left office. Withholding those payments, he suggested, undermines principles of fairness and accountability that should underpin public administration regardless of which party holds power.

The debate over staffing and compensation at the Presidency has been a recurring flashpoint between the two major parties. The recent clash between government ministries, which prompted Minority Leader Afenyo-Markin to accuse the NDC government of losing control of the machinery of state, illustrates how operational disputes at the executive level can quickly become political ammunition.

Mr Essuman specifically criticised what he described as the selective implementation of the salary adjustments. He alleged that some current officeholders had already received arrears and benefits under the revised scale, while former appointees from the previous administration had been systematically excluded from the same provisions.

He called on the government to settle all outstanding obligations owed to former staffers and to ensure equal treatment irrespective of political affiliation. “The law is no respecter of persons. Accountability is not a partisan project; it is a constitutional duty,” Mr Essuman stated.

The government has not yet publicly responded to the allegations. The matter, however, raises broader questions about how Ghana manages the often fraught transition between administrations and whether the rights of former political appointees are adequately protected by existing legal frameworks.

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