Kow Essuman: Akufo-Addo Appointee Chases Finance Minister Over Salary Arrears and Benefits

• Lawyers for former Presidential Legal Counsel Kow Abaka Essuman wrote to Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson on September 8, 2026, demanding unpaid benefits
• Essuman served as Legal Counsel and acting Secretary to the President under Akufo-Addo from January 2021 to January 7, 2025
• The lawyers alleged that comparable public office holders had already received their arrears and benefits

Lawyers acting for Kow Abaka Essuman, former Legal Counsel to ex-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, have written formally to the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, demanding the immediate settlement of their client's outstanding salary arrears and terminal benefits.

The letter, dated September 8, 2026, states that Essuman was appointed Legal Counsel to the President in January 2021 and later took on the additional role of acting Secretary to the President in October 2024.

He served in both capacities until January 7, 2025, when the Akufo-Addo administration concluded its term.

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According to his lawyers, Essuman's entitlements include four months' consolidated salary for every completed year of service or part thereof, an installation grant equivalent to one month's salary, and a resettlement grant equivalent to one month's salary for each year or fraction of a year served.

These payments, together with salary arrears, were said to have become due immediately upon the end of his tenure.

Lawyers Allege Discriminatory Treatment

The lawyers cited Section 2(c) of the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845), which places an obligation on the Transition Team to ensure that salaries, allowances and retiring benefits owed to specified public office holders are paid without undue delay.

Central to the lawyers' argument is the claim that other former officeholders from the same administration have already been paid.

They contend that former Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, and members of the Council of State have all received their respective arrears and terminal benefits, while Mr Essuman and other former Presidential Staffers have not.

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"Where persons who served in comparable public offices during the same period have received their applicable benefits, the continued withholding of our client's entitlement is arbitrary, discriminatory, unfair and unlawful," the lawyers stated in the letter.

The lawyers are demanding full settlement of the outstanding principal amount, plus interest calculated from January 7, 2025, at the prevailing commercial bank rate.

They have set Friday, September 11, 2026, as the deadline for payment. Should the Ministry fail to comply, the lawyers warned they would commence legal proceedings against the State to recover the full amount, including costs, though they indicated Mr Essuman remained open to resolving the matter outside of court.

Source: YEN.com.gh