{"id":304296,"date":"2017-03-24T06:00:42","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T06:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=304296"},"modified":"2017-03-24T06:00:42","modified_gmt":"2017-03-24T06:00:42","slug":"ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/","title":{"rendered":"Ayorkor Botchway laments cut in Foreign Ministry’s IGF"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Finance Ministry’s decision to limit the Foreign Affairs Ministry to only 35 percent of its internally generated funds will make it challenging for them to fulfill commitments to Ghanaian missions abroad, as well as pay a $50 million loan from\u00a0Societe Generale secured in 2016 for the refurbishment of Ghana\u2019s foreign missions.<\/p>\n
Parliament on Thursday approved the almost GHC 400 million allocation for the Foreign Affairs ministry, but the sector minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway feared for the outfit’s ability to handle basic responsibilities and cater for emergencies with the cut.<\/p>\n
The retention allows the ministry to assist distressed missions because Government releases normally delay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe money that we are supposed to use to service the loan is the money that has been reduced considerably by the ministry of finance so what is going to happen is that, we might not be able to do anything and that will be a sad situation for us,\u201d she bemoaned to Citi News<\/strong>.<\/p>\nKen Ofori-Atta, Finance Minister<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Minister noted that, her ministry has taken up the reduction with the Finance Ministry “and they understand our plight.\u201d<\/p>\n
“We don\u2019t even have enough money to recruit staff to run goods and services and assets. We are not given that much. So we rely on the 35 percent that we retained of the 100 percent retention to run the missions\u2026 What happens is that, the 35 percent that is retained is what is sent to some of these missions to rescue them in times of difficulty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ministry, Missions to suffer<\/strong><\/p>\n
Responding to the developments on Eyewitness News<\/strong>, a ranking member on\u00a0Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, echoed Mrs. Ayorkor Botchway’s concerns, particularly the payment of the $50 million Societe Generale loan, among others.<\/p>\nSamuel Okudzeto Ablakwa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
“If you look at the terms of that loan facility, the Foreign Ministry is expected to service that loan using the IGF that it generates… going by the report, the Ministry is expected to raise an IGF of a little over GHc149 million, but the Ministry of Finance is saying the Foreign Ministry can keep only about GHc 51 million.”<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this GHc 51 million, you cannot be servicing your Societe General loan which you have six years to pay\u2026 you cannot achieve this target and at the same time also assist your distressed missions which the 100 percent retention was helping the foreign ministry achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report presented by the Foreign Affairs Committee to Parliament highlighted this point and appealed to the Finance Minister to\u00a0reconsider its decision.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ablakwa cautioned that\u00a0“if this decision is not reversed, this Societe Generale $50 million loan facility which is intended to be used to refurbish our missions abroad and also to support the missions from the IGF facility; these two interventions are going to suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Finance Ministry’s decision to limit the Foreign Affairs Ministry to only 35 percent of its internally generated funds will make it challenging for them to fulfill commitments to Ghanaian missions abroad, as well as pay a $50 million loan from\u00a0Societe Generale secured in 2016 for the refurbishment of Ghana\u2019s foreign missions. Parliament on Thursday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,11],"tags":[5428,3,270],"yoast_head":"\n
Ayorkor Botchway laments cut in Foreign Ministry's IGF - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ayorkor Botchway laments cut in Foreign Ministry's IGF - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Finance Ministry’s decision to limit the Foreign Affairs Ministry to only 35 percent of its internally generated funds will make it challenging for them to fulfill commitments to Ghanaian missions abroad, as well as pay a $50 million loan from\u00a0Societe Generale secured in 2016 for the refurbishment of Ghana\u2019s foreign missions. Parliament on Thursday […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-24T06:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/minister-of-finance-ken-ofori-attah.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/\",\"name\":\"Ayorkor Botchway laments cut in Foreign Ministry's IGF - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-24T06:00:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-24T06:00:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ayorkor Botchway laments cut in Foreign Ministry’s IGF\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\",\"name\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ayorkor Botchway laments cut in Foreign Ministry's IGF - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ayorkor Botchway laments cut in Foreign Ministry's IGF - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"The Finance Ministry’s decision to limit the Foreign Affairs Ministry to only 35 percent of its internally generated funds will make it challenging for them to fulfill commitments to Ghanaian missions abroad, as well as pay a $50 million loan from\u00a0Societe Generale secured in 2016 for the refurbishment of Ghana\u2019s foreign missions. Parliament on Thursday […]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2017-03-24T06:00:42+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/minister-of-finance-ken-ofori-attah.jpg"}],"author":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/","name":"Ayorkor Botchway laments cut in Foreign Ministry's IGF - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-03-24T06:00:42+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-24T06:00:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/ayorkor-botchway-laments-cut-in-foreign-ministrys-igf\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ayorkor Botchway laments cut in Foreign Ministry’s IGF"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1","name":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kojo Akoto Boateng"},"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304296"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304296\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Ken](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/minister-of-finance-ken-ofori-attah.jpg\")
![\"Samuel](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/5a1a3de0-6772-4679-b0d0-11dccb2d1c3d.jpg\")