Special Assistants to Ministers Paid In Dollars?

In spite of the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) status of the country, some Special Assistants to Ministers of State are paid in hard earned foreign currency by the government.

The Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin made this allegation in an answer to a question posed to him by members of the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) of the NDC at Wa, as to how and who pays the numerous Special Assistants to Ministers of State and District Chief Executives.

He said the NPP administration, which opted for the HIPC initiative because the economic situation of the country was bad and promised a drastic cut in the number of Ministers, now has more than necessary Ministers and Special Assistants, some of whom are paid in dollars. Mr Bagbin said some are paid between $4,000 and $5,000 a month (about ?38,750,000.00).

The Minority leader specifically mentioned Dr Osei Akoto, Special Assistant to the Minster of Finance as one of those paid in dollars, to buttress his point. But, both the Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani and a Special Assitant to the minister of Finance, Mr Robert Kwabena Poku Kyei, when contacted denied any knowledge of Special Assistants being paid in foreign currency.

Mr Mpiani explained that in general terms, the government was not paying Special Assistants in dollars, although he was not sure about the existence of any specific cases. He was, however, categorical that there was no such thing and referred the paper to the Minister of Finance as the one who could best explained the situation.

Mr Poku Keyi, on his part said he had no knowledge about some of his colleagues being paid in dollars. According to him, although be was paid through donor funding, his salary is paid in cedis. Mr Kyei also said that he knew some Special Assistants were being paid from the consolidated Fund.