Majority's accusation against Asafo Adjei to divert attention from South Africa evacuation expenditure discrepancies

The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has defended his deputy, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, against accusations of pursuing a personal vendetta against Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

He described the accusations by the Majority Caucus as a diversion from discrepancies identified by the Minority in expenditure on Ghana’s evacuation of citizens from South Africa.

In a video sighted by ModernGhana News on Wednesday, October 14, Abu Jinapor insisted that the Minority’s demand for accountability was a collective position and called for an independent audit of the evacuation expenditure.

“Let me be clear, Honourable Asafo Adjei spoke on behalf of the minority caucus of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs. The examination of these records and the demand for accountability is our collective position,” he said.

His comments follow a press briefing by the Majority Caucus on Tuesday, October 13, during which Salaga South MP Hajia Zuwera Mohammed Ibrahimah accused Mr Asafo-Adjei of pursuing a personal agenda against Mr Ablakwa.

She alleged that Mr Asafo-Adjei and the immediate past National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, had pressured the minister to allow the latter to retain his service passport despite a presidential directive requiring former officeholders to surrender their service and diplomatic passports.

The Majority argued that the alleged disagreement over Nana B’s passport could explain what it described as persistent attacks on the minister by Mr Asafo-Adjei.

However, the Damongo MP rejected the allegation, insisting that the Minority’s concerns stemmed from its examination of documents relating to the evacuation exercise.

He said the records showed that only 824 names matched across registers for reintegration grants and transport allowances, although the minister had indicated that 2,964 evacuees received both payments.

He also cited a discrepancy involving 791 evacuees between records reviewed by the Minority and the announced total for chartered and commercial flights.

According to him, the registers further showed 1,508 signatures for reintegration grants, compared with 1,001 for transport allowances.

He also raised questions about payments involving 442 children and duplicated entries across payment registers and flight records.