By Godwill Arthur-Mensah
Accra, Jan. 31, GNA – Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Foreign Affairs Minister-designate, has said the activities of the Operation Recovery All Loots (ORAL) has saved the nation 20 bungalows.
He said the report of ORAL (set up by the President to recover all looted states asserts) would soon be handed over to President John Mahama for the next line of action.
The nominee expressed optimism that the discoveries made by ORAL would aid the Attorney-General’s Office to prosecute the suspects when the need arose.
Mr Ablakwa made these known when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament in Accra on Friday.
He expressed concerns about the cost of the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), describing it as “outrageous and over-estimated by US$100 million.”
The nominee said there was no value for money in the DRIP contract and would encourage President Mahama to re-negotiate the deal.
The nominee criticised the former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who claimed to be the brainchild of DRIP, to have allowed sole sourcing for the programme.
The nominee said, when given the nod, he would advocate the establishment of a Presidential Travel Policy as a cost saving measure to avert profligate expenditure.
The nominee said Ghana would use her economic diplomacy to address youth unemployment through regulated migration of Ghanaian artisans and professionals to work abroad.
To that end, Ghana would sign bilateral agreements with nations to export her artisans and professionals, including medical doctors, nurses, mid-wives, technicians and teachers to work outside and pay a token to the nation.
Responding to the President’s appointment of Lieutenant Colonel (rtd) Larry Gbevlo-Lartey as an Envoy to the Sahel State, the Minister-designate said the appointment was a “strategic national interest” to maintain its diplomatic relations with its neighbours.
“Ghana’s foreign policy interest is to remain “friends of all and enemies of none,” the nominee emphasised.
Mr Ablakwa said he would advocate for the establishment of a Consular Fund for the Foreign Service staff to support Ghanaians in the diaspora who may find themselves in distress, upon approval.
Ghana, he said, would also task her foreign ambassadors through clear key performance indicators to attract investors to the country.
GNA