{"id":63576,"date":"2014-11-10T10:38:36","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T10:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=63576"},"modified":"2014-11-10T13:51:42","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T13:51:42","slug":"criticisms-mahamas-travels-unfair-kwadwo-mpiani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/11\/criticisms-mahamas-travels-unfair-kwadwo-mpiani\/","title":{"rendered":"Criticism of Mahama’s travels unfair – Kwadwo Mpiani"},"content":{"rendered":"
The criticisms of President John Dramani Mahama’s travels abroad are out of place according to a former Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Mpiani.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Citi News,\u00a0<\/strong>Mr Mpiani said:\u00a0“He [Mahama] is the President of the country. I don’t think the president will just pack bag and baggage and say I’m travelling and leaving the country. There must be a reason for the travel.”<\/p>\n The President last\u00a0Wednesday travelled to Burkina Faso<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in his capacity as the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) \u00a0to help resolve the political unrest<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in the country.<\/p>\n On Friday, on the invitation of President Goodluck Jonathan, he travelled to Nigeria \u00a0to attend a sporting event.<\/p>\n He had previously been to the UK, Denmark and Norway and is currently in Italy where he is expected to meet the Pope<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>at the Vatican on Monday and will be back in Ghana on Tuesday.<\/p>\n The president’s recent travels have attracted criticism, especially from the minority, who have described them as “wasteful.”<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”AiNDTALUTBqA4COIQk4DrAmGFBTFoW3p”]The Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Matthew Opoku Prempeh said on Eyewitness News\u00a0<\/strong>in October:\u00a0\u201cCertainly when you combine all his travels since 2009 as a Vice President, acting on behalf of his Presidency, President Mills to now, \u00a0we don\u2019t seem to see the benefit that accrued to the nation. I don\u2019t remember the President staying here for even five days. Certainly he is a President who has stayed outside the shores of this country for a longest time possible.”<\/p>\n The criticisms have intensified in recent times following the Speaker of Parliament’s\u00a0refusal to be sworn in as interim president<\/span><\/a><\/strong> in the absence of the President and his vice, Kwesi Amissah Arthur.<\/p>\n Deputy Minority Leader Dominic Nitiwul on Eyewitness News on Friday also criticised the President for this frequent travels and accusing him of causing the current constitutional quagmire after the Speaker refused to be sworn in.<\/p>\n