President John Dramani Mahama has directed that all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMCEs) pursuing academic and other short courses should defer such programmes with immediate effect.

A statement issued in Accra on Thursday by Mr Collins Duada, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development has asked Regional Ministers to inform all MMDCES in their regions to strictly comply with the directive.

It cautioned that affected MMDCEs who flout the directive would “have themselves to blame”.