Former Member of Parliament for Kumbungu Constituency, , has called on President to do away with Ghana's embassies in 22 countries to aid revenue generation for the government.
The countries are Algeria, Austria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo, Czech Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Liberia, Libya, Malta, Namibia, Niger, Norway, Rwanda, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Arab Emirates.
He explained that it costs the nation millions of dollars to operate the embassies in those countries, yet the benefits are minimal and contribute little to the country's economy.
The former MP stated that the low trade volumes, limited diplomatic engagements, and high costs of maintaining these embassies in those countries justify his call. "These diplomatic missions and embassies have been selected based on a combination of factors, including: many of these countries do not have significant trade relationships with Ghana, making the maintenance of diplomatic missions less critical; some of these missions are not actively engaged in substantial diplomatic activities that benefit Ghana's national interests; and maintaining diplomatic missions is very costly. "The cost of maintaining embassies in the above countries costs the Ghanaian taxpayer several million dollars yearly.
