Majority links Asafo-Adjei’s ‘attacks’ on Ablakwa to refusal to grant Nana B passport exemption
The Majority Caucus in Parliament has alleged that Bosome Freho MP Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh and immediate past New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Organiser Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, pressured Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to allow the latter to retain his Service Passport despite a directive from President John Dramani Mahama requiring former officeholders to surrender such documents.
The allegation was made by Zuwera Mohammed Ibrahimah, Member of Parliament for Salaga South, during a presentation on the Majority’s position at a press conference on the government’s expenditure on the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.
Her presentation on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, followed an address by the Chairman of Parliament’s Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije.
According to Ms Ibrahimah, Mr Asafo-Adjei and Mr Boakye exerted what she described as undue and unethical pressure on Mr Ablakwa after he assumed office last year, seeking to secure a special exemption that would allow the immediate past NPP National Organiser to continue using his Service Passport.
She alleged that the two sought to persuade the Minister to disregard the President’s directive requiring former officeholders to surrender their Diplomatic and Service Passports.
Ms Ibrahimah further claimed that Mr Boakye, who was then the NPP National Organiser and Board Chairman of the National Food Buffer Stock Company, did not qualify for a Service Passport in that capacity.
She said Mr Ablakwa consistently refused to grant the request, insisting that the Minister’s compliance with the presidential directive was at the centre of the subsequent attacks against him by the Bosome Freho MP.
“The Minister’s strict compliance with the Presidential directive and refusal to be compromised must clearly be the reason for the consistent baseless, unwarranted attacks and character assassination cloaked as jaundiced parliamentary scrutiny,” she said, according to the Majority’s presentation.
The Majority’s allegation introduces a personal dimension to the dispute between the Foreign Affairs Minister and the Minority over the government’s handling of the evacuation exercise.
The Minority, led on the matter by Mr Asafo-Adjei, has questioned aspects of the GH¢49.72 million expenditure announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for evacuating 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa following xenophobic attacks. It has called for an independent audit, citing alleged inconsistencies in payment registers and flight records.
Ms Ibrahimah, however, accused the Minority of using its scrutiny of the evacuation expenditure to pursue what she described as a politically motivated campaign against Mr Ablakwa and the Ministry.
The claims concerning the Service Passport and the alleged pressure on the Minister were presented by the Majority as part of its response to the Minority’s criticism.
