Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has pushed back its planned engagement with Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, after the Minority side pulled out of the session.
The Minority had declined to sit in the closed-door briefing until the Minister furnishes a full breakdown of the almost GH¢50 million used to evacuate Ghanaians from South Africa.
The Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, told journalists the engagement was deferred to guarantee the participation of all members in the Minister’s briefing.
“We scheduled a meeting for the Minister to come and brief the committee. Unfortunately, the Minority decided that they will not be participating. I, as chair, decided that we must do whatever it takes to have all the committee members be part of the meeting with the Minister,” he said.
Dr. Vanderpuije said Mr Ablakwa is still prepared to release the details demanded by the Minority, including the full cost of the evacuation operation.
“So the minister is totally committed to providing whatever information the Minority needs. And he will do same. If we had had the meeting, he was coming to give us some level of information. The whole exercise of the evacuation, what cost went into it and where we are,” he said.
“At the time when I believe the Minority was asking for the information, the exercise was not over. Now it is over. So the minister is committed to providing the information,” he added.
Dr. Vanderpuije said he remains focused on fostering unity among members of the committee as deliberations on the issue continue. “I am always committed to ensuring that in our committee, we will work together,” he said.
