The New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Hopeson Adorye has questioned the viability of a new budgetary directive that forbade the usage of V8 in Accra.

He wonders if owners of V8 vehicles will receive new saloon vehicles to encourage them to stop using the V8s.

"With the V8 issue, I wonder how it will be handled.

Are we going to get the ministers brand-new sedans or what?

Because the majority of them already drive V8s," he said on the Boiling Point program of Oman FM on November 24.

He also questioned the issue of fuel cuts of 50% for appointees: “Even this government fuel that has been slashed, how do we want the appointees to work? As for that one, I disagree, so what should they do?

“Some of these things must be tackled realistically. Imagine a Minister with a fuel coupon of 2,000 cedis, now having 1000 cedis but his full tank costs 1,800, so if their car runs out of fuel after three days, what do I do?” he quizzed.

What Ofori-Atta said about V8s and fuel allocations

Under the section of the budget on "Implementation of the Cabinet directives on expenditure measures," the Minister said:

Mr. Speaker, as the first step toward expenditure rationalisation, the Government has approved the following directives which take effect from January, 2023:

● All MDAs, MMDAs and SOEs are directed to reduce fuel allocations to Political Appointees and heads of MDAs, MMDAs and SOEs by 50%. This directive applies to all methods of fuel allocation including coupons, electronic cards, chit systems, and fuel depots. Accordingly, 50% of the previous year's (2022) budget allocation for fuel shall be earmarked for official business pertaining to MDAs, MMDAs and SOEs;

● A ban on the use of V8s/V6s or its equivalent except for cross-country travel. All government vehicles would be registered with GV green number plates from January 2023;

● Limited budgetary allocation for the purchase of vehicles. For the avoidance of doubt, the purchase of new vehicles shall be restricted to locally assembled vehicles;

● Only essential official foreign travel across government including SOEs shall be allowed. No official foreign travel shall be allowed for board members. Accordingly, all government institutions should submit a travel plan for the year 2023 by mid-December of all expected travels to the Chief of Staff.