Akufo-Addo’s frequent travels causing financial loss to the state - NDC MP

Member of Parliament for Juaboso Constituency, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s frequent travelling is rather causing the country financially than the benefit it should have generated.

According to him, “much goes into the president’s numerous travelling and he is not bring anything home as well.”

Speaking on NEAT FM’s morning show ‘Ghana Montie’, the NDC MP argued that “Ghanaians benefited from former President John Dramani Mahama’s travels, that is not the case recently.”

“If the president wants the economy to be stable, then he must stop travelling,” he added.

The President’s travel around the world since taking office has been a major concern especially within the opposition National Democratic Congress.

The Minority in June accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of breaching Article 59 and 60 of the constitution with his departure from the country without due notification to Parliament as that showed "disrespect".

“Mr. Speaker, the people of Ghana deserve to know the whereabouts of the No. 1 person of the country . . . We do not know his whereabouts,” Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said on the floor of Parliament.

“The constitution says ‘prior notification’ and not an after-thought . . . Majority Leader where is your President and where is the official communication? Mr. Speaker the President has sworn an oath and an oath is to uphold the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and he is showing disrespect to the provisions and Article 59 and 60 of the Constitution. We must know who will act in his stead,” the MP for Tamale South added.

President Akufo-Addo was then in Belgium attending the United Nation’s Advocacy Group of Eminent Personalities on the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, in his capacity as co-chairperson of the group.

In June also a former Member of Parliament for the Akwatia Constituency, Baba Jamal said it was becoming too much the way President Akufo-Addo is constantly travelling outside without staying back to steer the affairs of the country.

Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Baba Jamal bemoaned the persistent security threats in the country, making it unsafe for Ghanaians to go about their normal duties.

He wondered why amidst of the security threats, President Akufo-Addo is nowhere in the country to put to rest the unsavoury killings which is scaring investors away but rather travelling around the world for nothing.

Member of Parliament for Effiduase/Asokore constituency in the Ashanti Region, Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie said at the time that the brouhaha surrounding President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s recent travels should be ceased.

According to him, if the president’s move around does not benefit the country – “I don’t think the President will just wake up in the morning and call his pilot that I want to travel around with state officials. Who does that?”

President Nana Addo has come under heavy criticisms from the opposition National Democratic Congress [NDC] that he travels “too much” after barely six months in office.

President Nana Addo is currently in Nigeria. He has been invited by the Acting President (Vice President) of Nigeria H.E. Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as a special guest of honour at the graduation ceremony of Nigeria's National Defence College.

Benefit from Germany’s “Compact with Africa” Programme

Due to President Akufo-Addo’s visit to Europe, Ghana has been named as one of the three countries in Africa to benefit from the Germany’s “Compact with Africa” Programme - a programme that will assist Ghana improve conditions for sustainable private sector investment, investment in infrastructure, economic participation, and employment in the country.

This was made known by the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, at a meeting with the Ghanaian community resident in Germany, on Sunday, June 11, 2017, held in honour of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in Berlin.