Special Aide to Dr Mahamudu Bawumia (DMB), Akosua Manu, has raised sharp concerns over Ghana’s agreement to host deportees from the United States without parliamentary ratification.

In a post on her social media pages on Thursday, September 18, the NPP’s 2024 parliamentary candidate for Adentan criticised the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, for disregarding constitutional requirements. She also questioned the justifications he offered during a recent interview on Channel One TV.

“I watched in utter disbelief a clip from an interview granted by our Foreign Minister on Channel One TV,” she said. 

“The topic was a deeply troubling one: the justification for Ghana’s agreement to host deportees from the United States without the crucial step of parliamentary ratification. We must remember that in this role, he represents the entire nation, not his personal convictions.”

Drawing parallels with the 2016 Gitmo Three controversy, Manu stressed that Ghana’s laws are clear on such matters. 

“About a decade ago, the nation woke to the shocking news that terrorists, infamously known as the Gitmo Three, had been granted refuge on our soil—a move that bypassed our strict laws and parliamentary procedures.

The matter was rightly taken to court, and the ruling was unequivocally clear: such weighty international agreements must be discussed, vetted, and approved by Parliament,” she recalled.

She accused Mr Ablakwa of hypocrisy, noting his past record of harsh criticism of previous administrations. “Today, the Foreign Minister, who consistently lashed out at the previous government for virtually everything, finds himself in the firm, unyielding chokehold of Lady Karma,” Madam Manu declared. 

Warning of the dangers of executive overreach, she added: “If these two reasons—finding old documents and receiving a foreign official’s blessing—are enough for our nation’s laws to be discarded on a whim, then I fear for what truly lies ahead. This sets a dangerous precedent where executive convenience overrides constitutional duty and parliamentary oversight. May God have mercy on us all.”