‘I buy my own fuel’ – Deputy Tourism Minister

Deputy Tourism Minister Mark Okraku-Mantey has revealed that his salary has been slashed by 30% because of the hardship in the country.

Speaking ‘U Say Weytin’ with Prince Tsegah, he mentioned that the notion that people in government are not affected by the current hardship in the country is false.

According to him, some of the measures taken by the government include slashing the salaries of people like himself by 30%.

He added that other privileges with his status have been cut off.

“Our salaries have been slashed by 30%. We are all feeling the pain. I know what we are all going through. I buy my fuel and I inherited the car that I use,” he said.

Mr Okraku-Mantey further mentioned that the acknowledgement of the current hardship in the country is one of the reasons why the IMF is in the country.

According to him, these are steps the government is taking to mitigate the pressure on the economy, especially about the depreciation of the cedi.

“Why is the IMF in the country at the moment? It is because we want to take steps to mitigate the pressure.

“If I hear people say the president is not showing concern, I don’t understand.”

According to Mr Okraku-Mantey, he gets hurt when people say Ghanaians are the only people suffering all around the world and hence point fingers at President Akuffo-Addo.

“I get hurt when people make it look and sound like it is just under President Akuffo-Addo’s leadership that is making us suffer. The UK is going through that, USA and other parts of the world are feeling it.

He added, “It is one of the uncontrollable things that can hit any nation. So if we say that we do not know what is going on then it’s a lie because I am feeling it myself.”