Frema Osei-Opare
President Akufo-Addo has temporarily banned all Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCs) and heads of all government agencies from foreign travels.
This was contained in a memo signed by the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare under the instructions of the President.
The memo, dated June 21, 2018 read, “The President of the republic has directed that all foreign travels by Hon. Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs and heads of government agencies be temporarily suspended with immediate effect.”
It indicated that guidelines in respect of future foreign travels aimed at minimizing disruption to government’s domestic work would be communicated to those affected by the directive in due course.
It’s unclear whether the ban would affect the private trips of the officials, which are not funded with state resources.
Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration was exempted from the ban obviously because of the nature of her work which involves frequent foreign travels.
The move is believed to have been necessitated by the somewhat frequent foreign trips by government officials, some of which are said not to be vital.
Some ministers and chief executives of state-owned enterprises have embarked on numerous foreign trips at great cost to the state.
The head of a government agency is being probed for allegedly travelling 90 times with the deputy.
The ban is expected to drastically reduce government’s expenditure on foreign travels and its attendant effect on work in the country.
President Akufo-Addo, who is almost halfway through his term, is bent on fulfilling his key campaign promises, including the ‘One District, One Factory,’ ‘One Village, One Dam’, among other promises.
He has so far implemented the free Senior High School (SHS) policy and restored the allowances of nurses and teacher trainees, among others.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent