Presidential travels cost: Finance Minister directs Parliament to National Security
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The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has told Parliament that the “best place” to furnish the House with details on the cost of the President’s recent official travels outside the country is the office of National Security.
He said due to the national security implications, the air travel for the President, including the cost for the advance team, flight arrangements, security, accommodation, and air tickets, are coordinated operationally between the Office of Government Machinery and National Security Secretariat.
He said in line with the 2021 budget implementation instructions, the Ministry did not release any funds to the Chief of Staff specifically for the President’s recent trips to France, Belgium and South Africa.
According to him, the current practice is that the Ministry released quarterly funds to the heads of department including the Office of Government Machinery for all the operational activities of the Office.
“To facilitate the safe coordination of the President’s travels, domestic and foreign, the Office of Government Machinery and the National Security Secretariat work together to achieve this,” he stated.
National Security Minister is to provide answer
Answering a question on the floor of the House Wednesday, Mr Ofori-Atta said, “Mr Speaker, the Presidents’ domestic and international travels are matters to do with National Security.
“The National Security Minister is best placed to furnish this Honorable House with the details needed,” he stated.
He was responding to an urgent question filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
He also sought to know if the transaction did not go through the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), which was under the control of the Finance Minister, and thus was in a position to know the cost of travels by the President.
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ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson
[email protected] An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.
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