Atik Mohammed, People’s National Convention (PNC) stalwart and policy analyst, has described as “misplaced priority” President Mahama’s directive that all ministers should park official vehicles after official business.
Mahama Ayariga, Communication and Media Relations minister, announced on the Super Morning Show last Tuesday 16th April, that as a measure to cut down on government expenditure, all government functionaries must use their personal cars for private business after close of work.
But Atik Mohammed is opposed to the move. Speaking on Citi FM, he asked, “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.”
According to him, President Mahama has also not considered the fact that “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.”
The PNC policy analyst suggested that the President should reconsider his stance because the directive may affect productivity. In his view, a more effective austerity measure would be a reduction in the size of government.