Former Legal Counsel to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Kow Abaka Essuman, has demanded the payment of his outstanding salary arrears and terminal benefits from the Ministry of Finance, threatening legal action if the payments are not made by Friday, September 11, 2026.
Mr Essuman, through his lawyers, Vint & Aletheia Attorneys & Consultants, made the demand in a letter dated September 8, 2026, and addressed to the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
The letter, which was received by the Ministry of Finance on September 9, 2026, states that Mr Essuman was appointed Legal Counsel to the President by then-President Akufo-Addo in June 2021, with his appointment taking effect from January 8, 2021.
According to the lawyers, Mr Essuman was subsequently appointed Acting Secretary to the President in October 2024, in addition to his responsibilities as Legal Counsel.
He served until January 7, 2025, when the tenure of the former President ended.
The lawyers said the terms of Mr Essuman’s appointment entitled him, at the end of his tenure, 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.
“At the end of his tenure, our Client became entitled to his salary arrears and terminal benefits stipulated in his appointment letter, arising from his service to the Republic as Legal Counsel to the President,” the lawyers stated.
They further cited Section 2(c)(ii) of the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845), which requires the Transition Team to ensure that salaries, allowances, facilities, privileges and retiring benefits determined by Parliament for specified Article 71 officeholders are paid without undue delay.
The lawyers argued that despite the completion of the transition process and the passage of considerable time, their client remained unpaid.
They claimed that other public officials who served during the same period, including Members of Parliament, former Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, and members of the Council of State, had received their respective salary arrears and terminal benefits.
“Our Client, together with other former Presidential Staffers who served at the Office of the President in the previous administration, remained unpaid,” the lawyers said.
They described the continued withholding of Mr Essuman’s entitlements, in circumstances where persons they considered to have served in comparable public offices had been paid, as “arbitrary, discriminatory, unfair and unlawful.”
The lawyers said Mr Essuman had previously raised concerns publicly about the non-payment of outstanding entitlements owed to former Presidential Staffers, but that efforts to secure an administrative resolution had not yielded a settlement.
They have therefore formally demanded the immediate processing and payment of the full outstanding salary arrears and terminal benefits.
The demand also includes interest on the outstanding amount from January 7, 2025, to the date of full payment, calculated at the prevailing commercial bank rate.
The lawyers have given the Ministry of Finance until Friday, September 11, 2026, to settle the amount and interest in full.
They said their client remained willing to resolve the matter without litigation but warned that failure to make payment by the deadline would result in legal proceedings against the State.
“If the outstanding entitlement is not paid by Friday, 11th September 2026, we have our Client’s firm instructions to commence proceedings against the State to recover the outstanding principal amount, interest, and costs, without further recourse to the Ministry,” the lawyers stated.
