Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Samuel Abdullai Jinapor, has welcomed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ new travel advisory following the deadly Burkina Faso attack, but insists the directive on its own is inadequate.

His remarks come after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the travel advisory urging Ghanaians to exercise caution when travelling to high-risk areas in neighbouring countries, particularly in northern Burkina Faso and other regions affected by violent extremism.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story, Mr. Jinapor argued that cross-border trading is a daily livelihood activity for many Ghanaians, making it unrealistic to expect citizens to simply stop travelling because of an advisory.

“Well, I think the call by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to be welcomed, first of all. But the call is not enough. The call itself is not sufficient,” he stated.

According to him, while the advisory is necessary, government must go beyond issuing warnings and instead implement urgent security interventions to protect Ghanaian citizens who will inevitably continue travelling for survival.

“I think that the government should put in place urgent contingency security measures to protect Ghanaian citizens and not rely on a call alone,” he stressed.

“I’m dead sure that there will be Ghanaians who will not heed to this call and who will, as a matter of necessity, continue with their daily realities of existence, of livelihood, of trading,” he added