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Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, editor-in-chief of the New Crusading Guide
• Kweku Baako expresses disappointment that Ken Ofori-Atta did not provide figures to Parliament
• However, he agrees with his decision to refer the matter to the Ministry of National Security.
• He hopes that the Ministry of National Security will make the disclosure
Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, editor in chief of the newspaper New Crusading Guide, considered that the Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta had made no administrative error in deciding to postpone a question on the trip of President Akufo-Addo to France, Belgium and South Africa to the Ministry of National Security.
Baako revealed on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana show that Ofori-Atta was only following due process.
According to him, the budgets and expenses for the trips abroad of President Akufo-Addo are carried out by the office of the Chief of Staff in partnership with the Secretariat for National Security.
Baako said the two institutions are working together to plan the president’s trip, hence his belief that the finance minister was right in referring parliament to the National Security Ministry.
“The important thing is to look at the substance of the answer given by the minister. First, he redirected the matter to the Minister of National Security. I hear Ken Ofori-Atta argue that the President’s travel, especially overseas travel, is the responsibility of national security and the machinery of government office. Is it valid or not? Is there a document for this?
“My own checks are that when it comes to overseas travel, there is a unit known as the Foreign Travel Unit that deals with these things. The Ministry of National Security are all parts of the government apparatus. The sums are released in terms of budget line. When the president is away, the budget has already been handed over to the machinery of government office.
“They, together with National Security, will deal with the issues. The budget outline will come from the office of the government apparatus and the ministry will be aware because of the collaborations between them, so in terms of framework, the Minister of Finance is not entirely wrong, ”he said. declared.
Baako, however, said, like most Ghanaians, that he was unhappy that Ken Ofori-Atta did not mention numbers when he appeared before Parliament.
He expressed his concern that Ken Ofori-Atta could have saved Parliament the time he requested to prepare the answer to the question if he had just communicated to the House that it is the Ministry of Security. national which is in charge of presidential travel.
“Many people expected the Minister of Finance to provide figures relating to the president’s trip to France, South Africa and Belgium. When the Minister of Finance appeared before Parliament and did not give figures, it is natural that a lot of people were disappointed and I have no problem with that. If I can be honest with you, I was also expecting numbers. Ken Ofori-Atta on Wednesday courted the anger of some minority MPs after refusing to talk about the amount the government spent on the president’s trip.
“Mr. President, the President’s national and international travel is a matter of national security. Consequently, the Minister of National Security is in the best position to provide this Honorable House with the necessary details, ”he declared.
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