Lawyers for former Legal Counsel to the President, Kow Abaka Essuman, have formally demanded the payment of his outstanding salary arrears and terminal benefits from the Ministry of Finance.
In a letter dated September 8, 2026, and addressed to the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the law firm Vint & Aletheia said Mr Essuman was appointed as Legal Counsel to the President from January 8, 2021, to January 7, 2025.
The lawyers said Mr Essuman also served as Acting Secretary to the President from October 3, 2024, in addition to his duties as Legal Counsel, and ceased to hold office when the former President’s tenure ended on January 7, 2025.
According to the letter, the terms of his appointment entitled him to terminal benefits, including four months’ consolidated salary for every completed year 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.
The lawyers said Mr Essuman has yet to receive his salary arrears and terminal benefits despite the lapse of more than 20 months since the Presidential Transition Team completed its work.
They cited Section 2(c)(ii) of the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845), which mandates the Transition Team to ensure that salaries, allowances, facilities, privileges and retiring benefits or awards determined by Parliament are paid or awarded to eligible office holders without undue delay.
The legal firm further claimed that other public officials who served during the same period, including the Speaker and Members of Parliament, former Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament and members of the Council of State, had received their respective salary arrears and terminal benefits.
It argued that the continued withholding of Mr Essuman’s entitlements, while comparable public officials had been paid, was “arbitrary, discriminatory, unfair and unlawful.”
The lawyers said Mr Essuman had on several occasions publicly raised concerns over the non-payment of outstanding entitlements to former Presidential Staffers and had sought an administrative resolution of the matter.
They have therefore demanded that the Ministry of Finance immediately process and pay the full amount owed to their client, together with interest on the outstanding amount from January 7, 2025, until the date of full payment.
The lawyers have given the Ministry until Friday, September 11, 2026, to settle the outstanding amount and interest.
They warned that failure to meet the deadline would result in legal action against the State to recover the principal amount, interest and costs, while stressing that Mr Essuman remains willing to resolve the matter without resorting to litigation.
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|Mavis Fantevi
