The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to audit the directive to ban foreign trips of Ministers and other government appointees.
The group said within the last six months, the State spent in excesses of [ads1]$5.9million on extravagant foreign trips.
Executive Secretary of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson, in a statement said the excessive foreign travels has raised a high alert for civil society and governance experts calling on the President to find solutions to the numerous problems faced by the country and halt the trips which are unproductive.
He, however, called on the government to audit the directive to ban all foreign travel for public office bearers.
Nana Addo over the weekend has with immediate effect banned all foreign travel for public office bearers.
All ministers, deputy ministers, metropolitan, municipal and District chief executives (MMDCEs) and heads of government agencies have been banned from traveling, a memo sent to all government appointees by the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare stated.
It added that only the Foreign Affairs Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey is exempted from the directive.
The memo indicated that guidelines in respect of future foreign travels aimed at minimizing disruption to Government’s domestic work will be communicated shortly.
But Mensah Thompson said, “appointees should be made to refund the additional expenses incurred and those who traveled on tickets higher than the officially certified ticket class should be made to refund the additional cost to the state.”
Source: AwakeAfrica.com
