Mayor Uses Taxpayers Money For Private Trip?

The new Mayor of Accra, Alfred Vanderpuije, is in new trouble, having left Ghana for the United States without the permission of his immediate superior officer, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Daily Guide has learnt from an impeccable source at the Presidency.

Shortly after his confirmation as Mayor of the nation’s capital, the man was said to have sought permission from the Chief of Staff to travel to the United States where he was domiciled for a long time before his appointment.

His permission was declined because according to the source, it was too early for him to travel, having only recently been confirmed Mayor of the nation’s capital.

His letter, requesting permission, registered as No. AMA/SCR.42, was dated 28th May 2009 and addressed to the Chief of Staff but copied to the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development including the Greater Accra Regional Minister, stated that the trip was to enable him to attend the graduation ceremony of his daughter.

He added that during the period- 2nd to 14th June 2009 - he is scheduled to hold meetings with the Mayors of New York City, Columbia in South Carolina and Chicago, Illinois, to as he put it, discuss areas of cooperation and assistance that would enhance the development and progress of Accra.

His request met with resistance from one of the ministries whose sector minister, according to a correspondence cited by this paper, stated that he was unable to support the request.

The Metropolitan Chief Executive, according to the minister, had not complied with the basic procedures for seeking permission to travel abroad.

The correspondence, which should have passed through the Greater Accra Regional Minister, this paper learnt, was directly delivered to the Chief of Staff’s office. The discussion which should have preceded such a request, DAILY GUIDE also learnt, did not take place between the Mayor and the Greater Accra Regional Minister.

There is no concrete and acceptable measure put in place for the administration of the city in the absence of the Mayor, following the confusion about the seemingly unauthorized trip.

Questions are being asked about the funding of the trip, in view of its rather not-too-clear objective. The trip appears to be a private one even though the Mayor seeks to make it look like an official one, having mentioned his plans to discuss areas of cooperation with his counterparts in some major US cities.

A minister has sneered at the trip, which he noted, is inappropriate at this time when the Mayor should rather be busy assessing the many challenges confronting the AMA. The new Mayor has planned a massive decongestion exercise in the next fortnight; an exercise which he said is most opportune at this time when elections are far away.

Dr. Vanderpuije was said to have allegedly awarded the contract for the refurbishment of his official residence, asking for the replacement of the furnishings in the facility.

Shortly after his confirmation, he organized an ostentatious party to mark his success at surmounting the hurdles which confronted him shortly before his nomination. It would be recalled that the Alliance For Accountable Governance (AFAG) challenged his nomination on the grounds that he was an American citizen and had no right to hold that office.

Even though the man debunked the allegations leveled against him, the Alliance described these as spurious.