General News of Tuesday, 1 February 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2022-02-01A nation preparing for a bigger presidential jet cannot be in difficulty – Asiedu Nketia
Johnson Asiedu Nketia, NDC General Secretary
Government still struggling to pass E-levy bill
NDC scribe accuses government of unaccounted for profligacy
Asiedu Nketia says government must account for previous expenditures
Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress has restated the opposition of the party towards the Electronic Transactions Bill (E-levy).
According to the NDC scribe, the government has wasted
Read full articleenough funds in the last few years and has doggedly refused to account for them even in a democracy, hence they cannot be trusted with more money.
Asiedu Nketia specifically cited the issue of hiring luxurious private jets for presidential travels despite Ghana having a functional presidential jet.
He further lamented how the government over the last year refused several Parliamentary invitations to account for the travels citing security implications.
“All the monies they started collecting, they said they are running a democratic system. In which democracy would you call a Minister to come and account for some government expenditure and he will face you and say that we are not going to account to anybody?” Asiedu Nketia questioned.
According to him, the government was telling Ghanaians by their refusal to account for the travels, that: “when it comes to the comfort and security of the President, monies don’t matter… and we are not going to tell you anything and we are even preparing to buy a bigger jet.
“If you are preparing to buy a bigger jet, then you should know that you cannot convince anybody that the nation is in any difficulty,” he stated in a Joy News interview on January 31, 2022.
The issue of Akufo-Addo’s travels via chartered private jets dominated news headlines in 2021 as North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa repeatedly mounted ‘surveillance’ on Akufo-Addo’s mode of travel.
He accused the government of profligacy because there was a functional presidential jet yet the presidency opted for expensive flights. His attempts to summon relevant ministers to speak on the cost implications yielded no results as the topic was classified as ‘security information.’
