Akosua Manu, Advisor on Gender, Children and Social Protection to New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has questioned the relevance of allegations surrounding Nana Boakye’s service passport to concerns over Ghana’s GH¢49.7 million South Africa evacuation expenditure.
Ms Manu argued that the passport controversy should not divert public attention from questions about the management of public funds, including discrepancies in payment registers, alleged ghost names and unexplained gaps in flight records.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, October 13, she challenged those focusing on Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, to explain how the passport issue addressed the concerns surrounding the evacuation exercise.
“How does an allegation about Nana B’s passport reconcile a single cedi of public expenditure? How does it explain the millions unaccounted for?” she asked.
Her comments follow allegations by the Majority on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee that Nana Asafo-Ayeh, the Committee’s Deputy Ranking Member, is engaged in a campaign of character assassination against Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The Majority had suggested that the criticism of Mr Ablakwa is linked to his refusal to grant a service passport to Nana Boakye, a former NPP National Youth Organiser and former Board Chairman of the National Food Buffer Stock Company.
Salaga South MP Zuwera Ibrahimah Mohammed said the Minister had complied with a presidential directive requiring holders of diplomatic and service passports to return them, arguing that he should not be expected to make exceptions to the rules.
However, Ms Manu maintained that the passport dispute should not be used to sidestep questions about the evacuation expenditure.
She insisted that the financial concerns required direct answers and called for the relevant records to be examined.
“Ghanaians deserve answers, not distractions. The documents must speak for themselves,” she said, adding that an independent audit should be welcomed if there was nothing to hide.