General News of Thursday, 20 December 2018
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2018-12-20
Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu says a sudden change in the attitude of the Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Frank Annoh Dompreh has left him puzzled.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is astonished that the Chairman, who has praised him for his role in uncovering how the price of a Chancery for Ghana in Oslo, Norway was inflated by more than $8 million, is now questioning his work ethic.
Mr Ablakwa, who is also Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee raised the issue on the floor of Parliament and queried how Ghana had been presented with a $12, 217, 487.13 cost for a building which had been valued at $3.598,108.00 in 2017.
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu says a sudden change in the attitude of the Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Frank Annoh Dompreh has left him puzzled.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is astonished that the Chairman, who has praised him for his role in uncovering how the price of a Chancery for Ghana in Oslo, Norway was inflated by more than $8 million, is now questioning his work ethic.
Mr Ablakwa, who is also Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee raised the issue on the floor of Parliament and queried how Ghana had been presented with a $12, 217, 487.13 cost for a building which had been valued at $3.598,108.00 in 2017.
The Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey in response said Ghana had no intentions of purchasing the property at the amount stated by the MP.
She said the Ministry suspended all plans to purchase the six-bed building when the price was presented to them.
However, Mr Annoh Dompreh who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee was left unimpressed with the revelations made by his colleague member.
According to him, Mr Ablakwa raised the issue at the Committee level and steps had been taken to bring the Foreign Affairs Minister before it to provide further and better particulars.
Before she could, Mr Annoh Dompreh said the North Tongu MP went to town with the information.
He accused the MP of misconduct and alleged that he is known for leaking information to the press, adding however that “we will manage him.”
But Mr Ablakwa is surprised at the turn of events.
He told Joy News’ Evans Mensah on Top Stories “I am really at a loss at the sudden turn of events. The chairman has been very congratulatory of my posture because at all material moments, any information I have come into by the virtue of the fact that I took it upon myself to investigate these matters, I brought it to his attention.
“And that is the reason he agreed to sign a letter to the Foreign Affairs Ministry that they would have to appear before us again that they would have to provide further and better particulars… we wanted an evaluation report, we wanted to understand what the terms were and how come that apparently the property had been bought for $3.5 million in August last year and is now selling for $12.2 million to Ghana.”
The North Tongu MP says the Chairman cannot accuse him of bad behaviour when there had been an agreement for the Foreign Affairs Minister to reappear before the Committee to explain the turn of events.
He denies having an attitude of leaking information to the press, but said he was forced to raise the issue on the floor of Parliament because the Ministry, instead of responding to their letter, came to the House to move a motion for the Ministry’s budget to be approved which included expenses for the Norway building.
Mr Annor Dompreh’s behaviour in his view, smacks of someone who wants to catch the eye of the president “that can be the only issue. I thought he had a mind of his own.
“The Chairman conducted himself in a way that is totally out of turn,” he added.