A group of 134 former Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) appointed under Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo's NPP government claim they are still owed terminal benefits nearly five years after leaving office in October 2021. The group, led by former Municipal Chief Executive for Akatsi South, Leo-Nelson Adzidogah, has written to Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, requesting payment of their outstanding benefits. According to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the MMDCEs were not renominated and left office without receiving their terminal benefits.
The petition, signed by Adzidogah, outlines events dating back to the start of Akufo-Addo's second term. The MMDCEs were asked to remain in office while the government worked through the process of nominating and approving new appointees. When the process concluded in October 2021, 134 of them were not renominated and left office. The group claims their successors were eventually paid, while they themselves were excluded, describing the situation as an oversight rather than a deliberate decision.
The affected former MMDCEs initially assumed their benefits would be settled together with those of the officials who replaced them. However, this did not happen. The petitioners argue that the exclusion is unfair, citing colleagues who were renominated and continued into the second term, receiving benefits covering the January to October 2021 period. The 134 outgoing MMDCEs also served during this period, and they contend that leaving office before the end of the second term should not be grounds for denying them pay for the period they worked.
An MMDCE is the government-appointed head of a Metropolitan, Municipal or District Assembly, responsible for day-to-day administration at the district level. Terminal benefits refer to the end-of-service payments such appointees are entitled to once they leave public office. The unpaid benefits represent money the former officials claim they are owed for work already done, with some waiting nearly half a decade for payment.
This appeal follows a similar demand made in September 2026 by Kow Abaka Essuman, a former presidential legal counsel, who is pursuing his own salary arrears and terminal benefits through legal representation. The two cases highlight a recurring problem of political appointees leaving office without their entitlements being settled promptly, regardless of which government is in power.
The petition puts fresh pressure on the Ministry of Finance, which is currently managing Ghana's programme with the International Monetary Fund alongside numerous other competing claims on the public purse. The ministry's response to this request will be closely watched by other categories of former appointees who may have similar outstanding claims.
The petition asks Dr Ato Forson to consider the matter and authorise payment. As of the GNA report, the Finance Ministry had not issued a public response, and no timeline has been given for when — or whether — the outstanding benefits will be paid. The issue remains unresolved, leaving the 134 former MMDCEs awaiting a decision on their terminal benefits.
Key points
- The 134 former MMDCEs are demanding payment of their terminal benefits, which they claim they are owed for work done during their tenure.
- The petition highlights a recurring problem of political appointees leaving office without their entitlements being settled promptly.
- The Ministry of Finance faces pressure to balance this request against its existing fiscal commitments, including Ghana's programme with the International Monetary Fund.
