com’The taxpayer should not be buying me coffee and biscuits’ – Harriet Thompson on govt expenditure

The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson, has stated that for government to employ cost-cutting measures, ruling out refreshments from meetings will be “an important place to start”.

According to her, it is one measure that her country adopted when it had to tighten its budget.

She also stated that this will demonstrate to the taxpayer that the government is aware of the hardships the country is currently experiencing.

“One of the things that I talk to them about is my own experience as a UK civil servant. Over the years since I started, we have gradually seen the budget being tightened. And it’s quite at low levels. For example, no more free coffee and tea for civil servants, no more biscuits in meetings for civil servants,” she is quoted by myjoyonline.com.

“Nobody expects that that should be provided. People think very hard about how tax payer’s money is spent in an appropriate way. And for me as a British citizen, the taxpayer shouldn’t be buying my coffee and tea,” Harriet Thompson stated.

She however emphasized that even though this may not be Ghana’s current position, it is important that government employs such gestures to demonstrate a burden-sharing commitment.

“I am not saying that the government of Ghana is providing free coffee and tea for civil servants. I am saying that really looking at the cost of government, it is an important place to start. Because people need to say that we are in this together and that the pain that is undoubtedly going to remain for a while as the world comes through these challenges, we need to be sharing that plight,” she stressed.