Bosome Freho Member of Parliament Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh has rejected allegations that he attempted to persuade Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to allow New Patriotic Party (NPP) Second Vice-Chairman Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, to retain a service passport.
The MP’s response follows accusations by the Majority Caucus on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee that he and Nana B allegedly sought an exception to a government directive requiring former public officeholders to surrender their diplomatic and service passports.
Speaking amid the controversy, Mr Asafo-Adjei Ayeh denied seeking personal favours from the minister, insisting that his actions should not be misrepresented as an attempt to secure special treatment for the NPP official.
The Majority, led by Salaga South MP Hajia Zuwera Mohammed Ibrahimah, had alleged that the request was rejected because Nana B’s previous positions as NPP National Youth Organiser and Board Chairman of the National Food Buffer Stock Company did not qualify him to retain a service passport.
The caucus also suggested that the alleged disagreement could explain the Bosome Freho MP’s criticism of Mr Ablakwa, particularly over the ministry’s handling of the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.
Mr Asafo-Adjei Ayeh has questioned the reported expenditure on the evacuation, citing concerns about discrepancies in documents obtained from the ministry through a Right to Information request.
Nana B has separately denied seeking permission to retain his service passport, saying he surrendered it in compliance with the directive and later pursued arrangements to transfer existing visas to his ordinary passport.
The competing accounts have intensified the political dispute over the passport issue and the scrutiny of expenditure on the South Africa evacuation.
