News:
July 18, 2025
The Member of Parliament for Manso Adubia Yaw Frimpong Addo has chastised the President’s directive for the cancelation of fuel allowance for his appointees as mere politics and playing to the gallery; as such he does not deserve any applause from the public.
According to him the directive would catch up with the current administration, indicating that it is the more reason the finance minister is sweating because they are now facing the reality because there is no money to execute most of the things they promised during the 2024 campaign.
“There is a lot of hypocrisy in it. How do they go to work? They would do as the president has directed;” but wondered if they would be using their salaries to fuel their cars?
He asserts that the directive cannot be true because even though it can be stopped, there are other means through which they would be given this fuel allowance. Every subsidy comes with a price, there is nothing like free subsidy – it is at a cost to government, and to the public.
In an interview, Mr. Frimpong Addo questioned how the Ministries would be able to get money to execute their programmes, as funds to the ministries are not being released to the Ministries. He added that “by the end of the year the realities would set in. “When your mother is dead and you say she is not dead, night would come, and we would see who would cook food for you”.
Again, I do not have a problem if the president says we should sacrifice; but that is not the reality. The appointees must work, and they need money to move around; the fuel shouldn’t be taken away – it is hypocrisy, he added.
When you go into it there is a condition of service – one car, one house; it’s nothing, it motivates you to work.
Even though the former deputy Agriculture minister said he believes in what the President is saying that the appointees should sacrifice, the nature of the sacrifice will inhibit the movement of the appointees. “How would his appointees go to work?”.
According to him, what is worrying African countries is the monitoring and evaluation; “so if you take the fuel allowance away you want him or her to become armchair minister; you want him or her to rely on the directors from the regions if they want to visit the regions.”
I am a bit surprised because fuel is not anything substantial and he needs to categorize the appointees. He stated that during his time as a deputy minister, he was given a fuel of five hundred cedis for the week, yet the cost of filling the tank of his Landcruiser was two thousand two hundred cedis; “so it is nothing”. He argued that the appointees are working for the good of the country, so they must be supported.
“There is a lot of hypocrisy in it. How do they go to work? They would do as the president has directed;” but wondered if they would be using their salaries to fuel their cars?
He asserts that the directive cannot be true because even though it can be stopped, there are other means through which they would be given this fuel allowance. Every subsidy comes with a price, there is nothing like free subsidy – it is at a cost to government, and to the public.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com