The Member of Parliament for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah, has questioned the government’s assertion of reduced passport fees, insisting that the Foreign Affairs Minister lacks the unilateral authority to implement such a change. His remarks followed the appearance of the Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, before Parliament to address urgent questions, including updates on the ongoing corruption scandal at the Ghana Embassy in Washington D.C.
Speaking to the media, Patrick Boamah stated that the Minister’s responses corroborated the Minority’s previous position. “I stated previously that the Minister did not possess the authorization to unilaterally reduce passport prices. From the answers he provided today, it confirms that passport prices have not yet been reduced,” He declared.
He clarified that the reduction unequivocally remains a pledge of the government, not an implemented policy,” emphasizing that any fee adjustment requires parliamentary legislation and alignment with the Finance Minister’s revenue projections.
“Ghanaians are patiently awaiting,” he added, “and we all hope for life and good health by August to witness whether the Minister will follow through on this commitment.”
The Okaikwei Central legislator also addressed the multi-million-dollar corruption scandal at the Ghana Embassy in Washington, D.C., where a locally recruited staff member, Fred Kwarteng, allegedly ran an unauthorized enterprise for visa and passport services.
While acknowledging the ongoing investigations, Boamah affirmed the Minority’s support for efforts to eliminate corruption within Ghana’s foreign missions.
However, he sought to clarify misconceptions surrounding the staff recruitment timeline. “Our ranking member placed on record that the individual in question had engagements with the embassy as far back as 2013, not solely during the NPP administration,” he pointed out, stressing that while political affiliation should not shield wrongdoers, context matters. “We fully support the Minister’s approach to addressing and removing any miscreants within our missions abroad. That, we unequivocally endorse,” he concluded.
| Story By: Eugenia Ewoenam Osei |
