Former President Jerry Rawlings never took salary as head of state for the entire time he led Ghana from 1992 to 2000, his wife has revealed for the first time.
�He was not earning an income,� Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings told Bismark Brown of ETV yesterday.
Brown, who appeared and sounded surprised by the former First Lady�s revelation, pressed further for clarification and confirmation, and Mrs Rawlings responded: �No, he wasn�t taking it.
�I�m telling you. Maybe you should call him here and ask him,� she insisted.
According to Nana Konadu, it was after the NDC founder left office that he started taking salary as a former head of state.
�[As President] he wasn�t taking. He said the state was looking after him� he didn�t,� Mrs Rawlings emphasised.
LEAP Is Fraud
Nana Konadu also criticised the pro-poor programme, Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme, describing it as an avenue to steal money from the state.
LEAP is a social cash transfer programme which provides cash and health insurance to extremely poor households across Ghana to alleviate poverty.
The programme, according to organisers, Ministry of Gender and Social Protection, currently has over 80,000 who receive various monthly stipends.
�If you give handouts to people you are not encouraging them to do what is right for themselves and their society,� she said, explaining that the programme was unnecessary.
According to the former First Lady, the programme should be looked at again because it could easily be used to siphon taxpayers� money into private pockets.
�I think it�s a way to steal money from the state.
It�s a way to take money that is not accounted for,� she said
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