It’s wrong to put pres’s travel details in public—Security analyst

The Chief Executive Officer of Security Warehouse, Adam Bonaa, has proffered that it is wrong to put the president’s travel details in public for security reasons.

“Despite the need to ensure probity, transparency and accountability, it is also imperative that the security of the president is not comprised by making information pertaining to his travel history public,” he cautioned.

Mr Bonaa urged the Minority in Parliament to exercise restraint in their attempt to uncover certain details pertaining to the travel history of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

He expressed the sentiments when Ken Ofori-Atta,the Ministerof Finance, finally referred the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, Okudzeto Ablakwa to the Minister for National Security for answers to his questions about the president’s recent travels.

Mr Ofori-Atta after seven weeks of the MP’s formal demand via Parliament for cost of the president’s recent three-nation travel to France, Belgium and South Africa appeared in the House on July 21 but failed to provide answers to the question.

He however, referred the Mr Ablakwa to the Ministry of National Security as the appropriate quarters to provide answers on how much the president’s use of private jet during travel cost the country.

Mr Ablakwa, who is a Ranking Member of Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament filed the question on cost of the president’s travel after alleging that decision to charter luxurious private jet operated by Acropolis Aviation for the president’s trip cost the nation whopping GHC2.8 million, described move as profligate spending meant to satisfy the president’s taste for luxury, amount involved could have been put to better use to benefit Ghanaians.

The MP has announced he has filed another urgent question to demand answers from the Minister for National Security following the response by the Finance Minister

Mr Bonaa called for restraint and tolerance and Mr Ofori-Atta’s referral to the Minister of National Security was the right thing to do however, the president’s travel should be issue of concern when it goes into public domain in terms of security but clarified his position saying “even when the Minister of National Security has to give any information, it should not be done in the public domain.

“It should be done in-camera from security point of view because if we are going to look at the issue only from point of view of expenditure without its security implications, then we are only going to create security challenges and problems for the nation and if there are any wrongdoings it should not be looked at.

“The president’s security should be paramount to citizens especially those who work within the space and know how volatile entire sub-region has become and we do not want the country to be thrown into any chaos in an event it happens because we have released to much information to the public,” Mr Bonaa warned.–ghanaweb.com