All non-essential travels are to be stopped - Presidency Orders !

The Presidency has issued a directive cutting down on 'unwarranted foreign trips' by ministers and govern­ment officials.

According to a reminder sent to all ministers and heads of government departments, the state is incurring huge cost from unwarranted foreign trips by officials who mostly fly first and business class.

A notice from the Office of the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, to that effect stated "you may refer to letter num­ber OPGA 56 of 26th October, 2015 addressed to all minis­ters by the Secretary to the cabinet on the above-stated subject [foreign travels],
"It is needless to emphasise the serious impact the cur­rent frequent travels abroad by ministers and public offi­cials are having on government finances.
"To arrest the situation, all ministers are reminded to restrict foreign travels in their sectors to mandatory inter­national assignments only.
"All non-essential travels are to be stopped. All minis­ters are to take notice of the foregoing directive for strict compliance."