President Akuffo Addo Leads a Huge Delegation to The United Nations And Ghanaian Tax Payers Are Stuck With The Bill
Last summer when he was criss-crossing the country in a desperate quest to be the occupant of the Flagstaff House, Mr. Akuffo Addo repeatedly assured Ghanaians that if elected, he was going to give them a lean and efficient government.
Ghanaians believed the hype and threw Mr. John Mahama out thinking that Mr. Addo was the right replacement. But eight months into his administration, Mr. Addo hasn’t exactly stuck to his side of the bargain.
His government isn’t any where near the lean, mean machine he profusely promised on the campaign trail; instead, his administration is one bloated collection of family members, sycophants and bootlickers.
And making matters worse, is the President’s propensity to travel abroad on international assignments with extraordinarily huge entourages.
On his recent trip to the 72nd United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City, his delegation included party functionaries, NPP media sycophants and an assortment of other fawning acoltyes who had no business accompanying Mr. Addo to the annual gathering of world leaders.
I don’t know how much help the President needed to prepare for the many meetings he attended, or to write the speeches he gave. But let me state emphatically that there were just too many hands on deck, and they constituted a massive drain on our nation’s finances, not to mention usurping the role of the Ghana consulate in New York City.
No matter how much the likes of Ace Ankomah would love to justify the President’s big UN delegation, he and the other NPP enablers should remember one thing: Ghanaian tax-payers are footing the President’s bills and they are not in the least thrilled about doling out thousands of dollars to satisfy the whims of a spendthrift president.
New York City, especially the island of Manhattan where the United Nations is headquartered, is prohibitively expensive.
I attended journalism school in the City, and have a first hand knowledge of how ridiculously high prices are…. for example, a slice of pizza would set you back four dollars.
And on this island of outrageous prices, the President’s delegation had to be accommodated, fed and chauffered/driven around and given per diem to shop….. and shop they do, extravagantly.
A local television station in New York City intentionally filmed African delegates to the UN meeting shopping in the most expensive stores in Manhattan.
So, go do the maths and figure out how much the Ghanaian tax payer shelled out in a week on this absolute financial drainer.
As is their style, supporters of Mr. Addo have tried strenuously to frame any argument against his embarrasingly huge UN delegation as sour grapes and the carping of anti-NPP activists.
However, what they have conveniently glossed over is the fact that they were at the forefront of the torrent of criticism that was directed against former President Mahama for leading huge delegations on overseas trips.
The question then is: why should Mr. Addo be treated differently? Is he above reproach? The answer is a resounding NO. Everything he does or engages in should be placed under the microscope and examined thoroughly. It is called telling truth to power.
