A Development Economist, Dr. Michael Adongo, has expressed concern over reports of expensive foreign travel expenses by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; saying the president should lead by example.
Dr. Adongo was speaking on A1 Radio on the ongoing public outrage over allegations that President Akufo-Addo hired an aircraft for his recent trips to the UK and Germany at a cost of $14 thousand per hour and a cumulative GHS3.46 million.
Earlier in his submission, Dr. Adongo was careful not to overly criticize the presidency for their choices because he believes “moving the whole presidency and the presidential apparel on state visits abroad come with a whole lot of hardware and establishments that require you to move a lot of people in a secure and convenient manner that doesn’t leave the president at the mercy of the host countries.”
But he maintained that the President needs to take into consideration the weak state of Ghana’s economy and be modest at making expensive choices at the expense of the nation.
Dr. Adongo said “There should be an adult in the room. There is a certain dissatisfaction and general concern about this behavior so because of that I, the president would be measured in the extent to which I engage in these endeavors. Certainly, there are options; we have seen African leaders travel with their entourage on commercial flights. It is not going to be a first time. So if we have presidents who even have jets but refuse to use them because of economic reasons, but want to cut down cost by using commercial flights, we have a situation where we go for the high and luxurious private jets for presidential travels. It is a problem.”
“Because of the times we are living in, and the sacrifices that he expects the general public to endure, you {the president} will lead this country by example by cutting your appetite and cutting the extent to which you want to have your pound of flesh.”
Dr. Adongo was surprised that “just two months after the entire country expressed displeasure regarding the president’s choice of air travel, he repeats the same thing without recourse to how Ghanaians feel.”
Source: A1Radioonlinedcom|101.1 MHz|Ghana
