Ghana: The country of waste

Folks, I may be naive and ignorant but it still does not make sense to me why a developing and less rich country like Ghana maintains a high level of ambassadors to all twenty-seven members of the European Union (EU). Can somebody explain to me why, please?

Over a period of time, the separate individual countries that make up the EU have crystallized into one European state with one foreign policy with one Foreign minister known as Commissioner with one administrative capital in Brussels in Belgium.

Have they not made things easy and cheaper for us? Why do we have to continue with the unnecessary luxury of the expense of maintaining very expensive embassies in all 27 countries? We could easily and by right appoint one ambassador to the EU and base him in Brussels in Belgium.

Then reduce all the other embassies to small consulates with consular officers to handle visas, citizen relationships, and the country’s interest in the capitals of those countries. This will reduce greatly our expenditure on accommodation for both embassies and ambassadors as well as vehicular requirements, drivers, and other related expenditures on the cost of keeping ambassadors in all 27 capitals.

Do we have 50 ambassadors in the United States of America? ( It has 50 states consolidated into one country) Or is it the fact that we may lose our opportunity to appoint more friends and family members to “chop” money as privileged ambassadors, who take spouses, family members, and sometimes dogs on such foreign postings?

I think the time has come to set up a cross-party commission with other stakeholders to review all our embassies in the world and to reduce them in accordance with need and necessity. But certainly, the 27 members of the EU, which is now one country, do not deserve diplomatic missions at the ambassadorial level.

Let’s reduce diplomatic mission to at most consular service level in all of them if possible and maintain the one in the EU capital, Brussels. Is it not absurd, that we could have an ambassador to the EU stationed in Brussels in Belgium and have another ambassador to Belgium stationed in Brussels? ( I don’t know if that is really the current case) but it could happen in reality as we have an EU embassy in Accra and a separate Belgium embassy responsible for Ghana.

Folks let’s put our thinking cap on and save the country much-needed foreign money that can be used to improve some basic services in our country. Please, imagine the amount of money cutting down on running costs in 27 countries by reducing unnecessary staff, accommodation, and other related costs will bring to our leaking pockets and raped purses?

Please let us come together and urge our politicians to do the right thing for once for GHANA

I SALUTE