A row has broken out in Parliament after the Majority Caucus accused an opposition MP of improperly lobbying the Foreign Affairs Minister to let a senior party official retain a service passport he was not entitled to.
According to the Majority, Bosome Freho MP Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh attempted to press Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa into allowing Henry Nana Boakye, the New Patriotic Party’s Second Vice-Chairman, to keep his credential.
Speaking to journalists, Salaga South MP Hajia Zuwera Mohammed Ibrahimah alleged that both Mr Asafo-Adjei Ayeh and Mr Boakye had approached the minister to request an exception for passport number SS-003454. The request was turned down by Mr Ablakwa, who insisted that Mr Boakye’s previous appointments as NPP National Youth Organiser and Board Chairman of the National Food Buffer Stock Company did not meet the criteria for a service passport.
The caucus suggested that the alleged lobbying attempt lies behind a series of recent political attacks directed at the minister by the Bosome Freho MP, warning that parliamentary oversight must not be co-opted to settle personal grievances.
“Friends from the media, we all seek favours from people, but we seek reasonable favours. We seek favours within the law. There is the legal saying that he that comes with equity must come with clean hands,” Hajia Ibrahimah said.
The controversy unfolds against the backdrop of a government directive under the Mahama administration ordering former public officials to surrender diplomatic and service passports.
The accusations also mark a fresh escalation in a bitter parliamentary feud between the Majority and Minority caucuses over the ministry’s handling of the evacuation of Ghanaian citizens from South Africa. Mr Asafo-Adjei Ayeh had previously challenged the GH¢49.72 million spent on the operation, alleging that documents supplied by the ministry following a Right to Information request contained significant discrepancies.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana