A presidential aide, Samuel Ayeh, has accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of pursuing a campaign of vendetta and character assassination against Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
He said allegations raised by the NPP’s National Communications Director, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, and members of the Minority Caucus in Parliament were part of a broader effort to discredit the Minister.
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse, Mr Ayeh linked the alleged campaign to the Minister’s role in the NPP’s defeat in the 2024 general elections.
“This whole agenda and press conference held by my good brother Miracles and the members of the Minority are part of a grand scheme of a campaign of vendetta and character assassination targeted against the Foreign Minister because in their view he was very instrumental in their defeat in 2024,” he said.
The exchanges follow the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ disclosure that preliminary investigations had identified 10 Service Passports allegedly issued irregularly to individuals who did not qualify for them since 2023.
The Ministry said the suspected irregularities involved alleged illegal payments to a syndicate.
The Acting Director of Passports, Mahama Yahaya Amantana, and Alhassan Sumani have been interdicted and referred to the Ghana Police Service for further investigations and possible prosecution.
Mr Ayeh said the NPP had, in recent weeks, made several allegations aimed at portraying Mr Ablakwa as having failed to address wrongdoing within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He rejected the suggestion that the Minister, who had previously presented himself as an anti-corruption crusader, was now presiding over misconduct in the Ministry.
“You realise in the past few weeks there have been all manner of allegations and attempts to smear him and create the impression that he was an anti-corruption crusader, he came into government and he’s superintending over rot. That is clearly not true,” he said.
The presidential aide also maintained that a statement issued by the Ministry had provided an account of the alleged passport irregularities.
He said the Ministry had traced the problem to activities dating back to 2023 and involving an individual he described as an NPP-appointed ‘goro boy’.
“The Ministry statement clearly went ahead to establish that the claim that the NPP was making actually is a systemic problem stemming from 2023 involving an NPP goro boy that the NPP themselves appointed in November 2024,” he said.
The Minority has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the matter, while the Majority has maintained that the Ministry’s committee should be allowed to complete its work.
The investigations are ongoing.
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