Former Member of Parliament for Kumbungu, Ras Mubarak has called for the immediate scrapping or downgrading of 22 Ghanaian embassies, urging the move could save the nation hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
The state, he said, cannot keep paying for high rent costs while kids in schools across the country sit on the floor, stressing that keeping these embassies cannot be justified when clinics in rural Ghana are an eyesore.
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While acknowledging some missions may have properties gifted to Ghana, Ras Mubarak emphasized that overall running costs – including rent, salaries, and utilities – outweigh their economic and diplomatic value.
The countries he listed include Algeria, Austria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo, Czech Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Liberia, Libya, Malta, Namibia, Norway, Niger, Rwanda, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Trinidad & Tobago and the United Arab Emirates.
He stressed this is based on factors such as low trade volumes, limited diplomatic engagement, and high operational costs
The former MP, in an open letter addressed to President Mahama, urged the state to do away with these embassies arguing no significant job losses would result from the move as affected staff could be redeployed to more strategic missions. He pointed to Australia’s lean diplomatic model as a best practice example.
Ras Mubarak made a passionate appeal for smaller but more efficient government institutions, stating that Ghana must make the difficult and painful decisions to restore dignity to the lives of ordinary Ghanaians.