A few hours after President John Dramani Mahama announced the cancellation of fuel allowances and allocations for political appointees, the government issued a clarification on the directive.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson, Shamima Muslim, has clarified that while personal and non-official fuel benefits for appointees have been scrapped, allowances will still be provided strictly for state-related assignments and official government travel.
“The exemption is that there will still be room for some regulated official travel and assignments. For those regulated official travel and assignments, there will be room for the state to provide fuel for those particular travels,” Shamima stated.
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The Deputy Spokesperson also hinted at the government’s provision of a framework to guide the directive at a later date.
The clarification follows public debate and concern among the minority caucus of parliament, with some citing the directive as a political gimmick and populist stunt. They, however, asked the president to shut down fuel vending machines at the presidency to solidify his seriousness about scrapping the allowance.