Former Legal Counsel to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Kow Abaka Essuman, has given the Ministry of Finance (MoF) up to September 11, 2026, to pay his outstanding salary arrears and terminal benefits or face legal action.
Mr Essuman, through his lawyers, Vint & Aletheia Attorneys & Consultants, said he had waited for more than 20 months for his outstanding entitlements to be paid.
In a letter dated September 8, 2026, addressed to the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the lawyers demanded the immediate payment of their client’s salary arrears and terminal benefits, together with interest.
The lawyers said Mr Essuman was appointed Legal Counsel to President Akufo-Addo from January 8, 2021, to January 7, 2025.
They added that he was subsequently appointed Acting Secretary to the President in October 2024, in addition to his duties as Legal Counsel.
According to the lawyers, Mr Essuman’s appointment entitled him to 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.
The lawyers cited the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845), which requires salaries, allowances and retiring benefits due to Article 71 officeholders to be paid without undue delay.
They claimed that while other public officials who served during the same period had received their salary arrears and terminal benefits, Mr Essuman and other former Presidential Staffers remained unpaid.
The lawyers described the continued withholding of his client’s entitlements as “arbitrary, discriminatory, unfair and unlawful.”
They said Mr Essuman had made several representations to the relevant authorities in an attempt to resolve the matter administratively, but the issue remained unresolved.
The lawyers are also demanding interest on the outstanding amount from January 7, 2025, until the date of full payment, at the prevailing commercial bank rate.
They have therefore given the Ministry of Finance until Friday, September 11, 2026, to pay the outstanding amount and interest in full.
The lawyers warned that if payment is not made by the deadline, they have instructions from Mr Essuman to commence legal proceedings against the State to recover the outstanding amount, interest and costs.
By: Jacob Aggrey
