Pay me by Sept. 11 or face the court – Kow Essuman demands salary, benefits from Finance Minister

Kow Abaka Essuman, a former legal counsel to the President, has threatened legal action against the Ministry of Finance unless they pay him the salary arrears and end-of-service benefits owed to him by September 11, 2026. Essuman, who served as legal counsel to former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo from 2021 to early 2025, is now acting Secretary to the President.

His lawyers claim that his employment contract stipulates specific terminal payments upon the conclusion of his service, which include four months' consolidated salary for every year or part of a year served, a one-month installation grant, and a resettlement grant equal to one month's salary for each year or fraction of a year served.

Additionally, they seek interest on the amount owed since January 7, 2025, calculated at the current commercial bank rate. Essuman's legal team argues that other public officials in similar positions have already received their overdue entitlements, while former Presidential Staffers are still unpaid. They assert that the Ministry's failure to pay Essuman's entitled payments is "arbitrary, discriminatory, unfair and unlawful," and warn that if the debt remains unpaid by the deadline, they will take the matter to court to recover the principal, interest, and associated costs.