The Vice Chairperson of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Cletus Seidu Dapilah, has criticised the Minority caucus over accusations regarding use of public funds to evacuate Ghanaians from South Africa and the issuance of diplomatic passports.
Reassuring the public of the state’s integrity, he declared: “Nobody is running away from accountability. The Foreign Affairs Ministry is all out to ensure that every penny, every cedi that is spent is accounted for.”
Speaking on TV3’s Daily Brief with Kemini Amanor on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, the Jirapa MP described the Minority’s approach as a “non-starter” that falls way below the standard expected of parliamentary oversight.
Asserting that the Minority lacks concrete proof of the claims, Dapilah argued: “If you want to ask someone to account for his stewardship or to the people of Ghana by way of oversight or scrutiny, you ought to always get your data right before accusing people. That is way below the belt. That is not how MPs hold people accountable.”
He further noted: “At the time he was making the allegations he didn’t have evidence, but then someone’s reputation, integrity was on the line. If you did not have evidence, there was no need to come to the august House and make those claims.”
Addressing the parliamentary friction, Dapilah revealed that the Foreign Affairs Committee has been unable to deliberate as a full house on the evacuation exercise or diplomatic passport inquiries.
“Since this issue of evacuation exercise started, the Minority side of the committee have not been attending anytime we try to hold a meeting where all of them will be available,” he explained. “The committee has not met as a full house to deliberate on any matter and interrogate issues of diplomatic passport.”
Dapilah firmly dismissed allegations raised by Damongo MP Samuel Abu Jinapor regarding the alleged sale of diplomatic passports at between GHC10,000 and GHC50,000, declaring: “Whatever info they put out there is not true.”
He explained that strict institutional protocols govern diplomatic passport eligibility, urging anyone seeking genuine clarity to follow official channels rather than misleading the public:
“There are various reasons why people are given diplomatic passports. If they don’t understand why some of the people that have diplomatic passports that they think don’t deserve it, they could contact the Ministry for Information.”
Background
The dispute stems from two separate but related allegations raised by the Minority in Parliament in recent weeks.
The first concerns expenditure on the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa. The Minority has questioned the figures presented by the government, pointing to a reported GH¢16.4 million discrepancy in the evacuation costs and demanding a full account of how the funds were used.
The second concerns the issuance of diplomatic and service passports. The Minority, led in Parliament by Damongo MP Samuel Abu Jinapor, has alleged irregularities in the process, including claims that diplomatic passports were issued to persons who did not qualify for them and suggestions that the passports were being sold.
The allegations have since spilled beyond Parliament. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) organised a demonstration under the banner “Yɛgye Yɛ Sika” to demand accountability on the evacuation expenditure and the passport issues.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has consistently denied wrongdoing, insisting that all expenditure is accounted for and that diplomatic passports are issued strictly in accordance with established protocols.
The Foreign Affairs Committee was expected to interrogate both matters. However, according to Dapilah, the Committee has been unable to sit as a full house because Minority members have not been attending meetings convened for that purpose.
