Ghana is set to spend nearly have a million cedis on President Nana Akufo-Addo’s hotel accommodation for an upcoming trip to the United States of America.
This information was contained in letters of correspondence between the hotel, the Embassy of Ghana in the United States and the Office of the President, shared on social media by the opposition Member of Parliament for South Dayi Constituency, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor.
The document sighted by The BBC Ghana indicates that the president will lodge at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, between November 29, 2021, to December 2, 2021.
The stay of the president and his delegation – including an advance team who will be in the city between November 26 to December 3, 2021 – is confirmed to cost the Ghanaian taxpayer some US$73,395 (GH¢470,000).
“Govt says no money so e-tax but it’s spending a whopping US$73,395 (GH¢470,000) on hotel Accommodation alone for a Govt Delegation to Atlanta, Georgia from 29th November to 2nd December, 2021. US$8,000 (GH¢51,200) per night,” Dafeamekpor wrote on his Twitter page.
The rates for rooms reserved for the president and his delegation ranges from US$400 to US$8,000 a night.
The government is willing to spend such an amount on the president’s hotel bills while imposing new levies on the taxpayer to raise more revenue.
Least to say, the country has been ranked among 36 others on the World Bank’s heavily indebted poor countries’ list.
Additional correspondence shared by the MP in his post, is a letter from the office of the Chief of Staff, requesting the Bank of Ghana to make a wire transfer of seventy-three thousand, three hundred and ninety-five United States dollars (US$73,395.00) into the account of Ghana’s Embassy in the US.
The money, according to the letter dated November 2, 2021, and signed by the Chief of Staff, Frema Akosua Opare is to be used for the payment of hotel reservation for the president and his delegation for a period of four days (November 29 to December 2, 2021).
Source: TheBBCghana.Com
