President’s Parking Directive Misplaced – Atik

People’s National Convention (PNC) Policy Analyst Mohammed Atik has described President John Mahama’s directive that all ministers should park their official cars after close from work a “misplaced priority.”

According to the directive, all government functionaries are expected to use their personal cars for private business.

The government says the measure seeks to cut down on expenditures.

Atik opposed the move, saying: “How are you going to cut down on cost by just parking your vehicles after the close of work; you cut down on cost if you decide that all ministers should instead of drawing fuel at the expense of the state should be purchasing their own fuel.”

He explained further, “The president has also not taken into consideration the fact that the work of a minister or any public officer for that matter does not end necessarily after the close of work, there are times they need to have meetings outside office schedules.”

Atik asked the president to reconsider his stance because it will affect productivity, saying, “Ministers will turn down invitations to official events after office hours.”

He suggested a reduction in the size of government as an austerity measure to cut down on government expenditure.

“You don’t inflate the size of government and expect that cost on government officials should reduce, so the most critical thing to do is to cut down the number of government officials.”