Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye OfosuThe Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has slammed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for criticising President John Mahama’s decision to scrap fuel allowances for political appointees.
President Mahama on Tuesday, July 15, ordered an immediate halt to the payment of fuel allowances and allocations as part of a broader plan to cut wasteful government expenditure and redirect funds into critical sectors.
But the NPP has described the policy as insincere and a mere public relations stunt, calling on government to provide figures on how much it expects to save from the measure.
Responding to the criticisms in an interview on Accra-based GHOne TV on Thursday, July 17, Kwakye Ofosu described it as “illogical” and an attempt by the opposition to undermine a necessary reform in government spending.
“How can any reasonable human being have a problem with a move by the President to cut costs so that funds available to government can be channeled into priority areas?” he asked.
“It is needless expenditure that we can do away with, and so he asked that it be stopped immediately.”
The minister asserted that the decision is consistent with President Mahama’s earlier efforts to downsize government by reducing ministerial appointments from 120 under the previous NPP administration to 60.
He further described as senseless, calls by the NPP for the closure of fuel depots at the Jubilee House and the Osu Castle as part of the directive.
“The fuel station here at the Jubilee House actually does not function, and as of yesterday, no government official could draw fuel from the one at the Castle either. Everybody who went there was turned away,” he added.
According to Kwakye Ofosu, the policy will save “millions of Ghana cedis”. He urged the NPP to stop trivializing government interventions aimed at safeguarding public finances.
