Els: MBN360 News
Ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, and MP for Damongo Samuel Abu Jinapor, has challenged statements made during the recent commissioning of Ghana’s new chancery in Addis Ababa, accusing the John Dramani Mahama administration of misrepresenting the project’s origins.
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa had stated in a Facebook post that the project has a ten-year history, starting with “funding arranged under the 2016 SG-SSB facility, and was stalled due to economic challenges before the current government resumed payments last year.”
Reacting to Ablakwa’s claim, Abu Jinapor said the project was initiated under the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government and should not be presented as the sole achievement of the Mahama administration.
He said the construction of the chancery began in February 2020 following a sod-cutting ceremony performed by then President Akufo-Addo on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
The MP indicated the event was witnessed by senior Ethiopian and Ghanaian officials, including Ethiopia’s president at the time, and marked the formal start of the project.
According to Abu Jinapor, the chancery was nearly completed before the change in government, reaching about 90% completion by October 2024.
He attributed any slowdown in final works to delays in settling the outstanding contract sum during the 2024 general election period.
The NPP MP rejected claims that the project dated back to 2016 or had stalled for several years, describing such assertions as inaccurate.
“This is a national project commenced by the previous government and completed by the current government,” he said, adding that acknowledging continuity in governance was consistent with democratic maturity.
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Abu Jinapor said it was misleading to characterise the chancery as a project of the Mahama administration, arguing that the current government completed only the final phase of the works.
Read Abu Jinapor’s full statement below.
SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT ON GHANA’S ADDIS ABABA CHANCERY
The commissioning of Ghana’s new Chancery in Addis Ababa is undoubtedly a moment of national significance. However, comments by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, at the commissioning ceremony and its aftermath, which attributes the Project to the current administration is erroneous and an egregious misrepresentation of facts.
As Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, and one who was present at the formal commencement of this Project in 2020, I deem it necessary to set the records straight.
1. Construction of the Addis Ababa Chancery commenced with a sod cutting ceremony by President Akufo-Addo on 10 February 2020 on the sidelines of the AU Summit. The ceremony was witnessed by the then President of Ethiopia, H.E. Sahle-Work Zewde, and other senior government officials from both Ethiopia and Ghana. I was present at this ceremony.
2. Indeed, at the ceremony, President Akufo-Addo lamented that Ghana did not have its own chancery building in Addis Ababa, considering the close relations between the two countries and our former leaders, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Emperor Haile Selassie.
3. The suggestion that the Project has a ten-year history from 2016 is, therefore, misleading and inaccurate. Construction of the Project commenced in February 2020 immediately after the sod-cutting ceremony, and by October 2024, was about 90% complete.
4. There was, however, a delay in the final payment of the contract sum due to the 2024 General Elections. It is, therefore, also, inaccurate that the Project had delayed for two years. If there was any delay in continuing the Project, then it is attributable to this Government, the Project having been left at 90% complete in October 2024.
5. This is a national Project commenced by the previous Government and completed by the current Government. It is neither partisan nor improper to acknowledge continuity in governance. Indeed, it reflects maturity in democratic practice. It is, however, disingenuous to discount the work of the Akufo-Addo Government and characterize the Project as a Mahama Project, when the current administration only completed 10% of the Project.
6. The Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs, as the chief Diplomat of our country, should have no difficulty availing himself of these unimpeachable facts or acknowledging them.
