Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Alfred Oko Vanderpuye, has criticised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for petitioning the United States Embassy over the issuance of service passports and for refusing to participate in a scheduled briefing by the Foreign Affairs Minister.
Speaking to Starr News, Vanderpuye described the Minority’s decision to stay away from the briefing as disingenuous.
He said the Minority had indicated that they had already requested the same information the minister was due to present through the Right to Information (RTI) process and would therefore not take part in the committee session.
“The minority indicated to me that they had requested for information, the same information that the minister will come and give to us in the 16th September meeting, they have requested for it. And so they will not participate in the briefing,” he said.
Asked whether he found the stance disingenuous, Vanderpuye replied: “Yes. I have very serious issue with that. As a member of the committee, it’s your opportunity to sit and listen to the presentation of the report. If you wanted to use RTI, that is right to information steps, I mean, that’s your choice. But you can afford also to sit with the minister.”
Vanderpuye, who is also the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South, further criticised the NPP’s decision to petition the US Embassy over service passports issued to individuals the party considers questionable.
The NPP had written to the US Mission in Accra asking it to apply enhanced verification to Ghanaian diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025.
The party cited six cases in which, it alleged, service passports were approved for persons described as officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Fisheries Commission on the basis of positions they did not hold or that did not exist.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
