Damongo MP Blasts Government on Foreign Policy Secrecy
Samuel A. Jinapor, Member of Parliament for Damongo and Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, has criticised the government for what he describes as insufficient openness, coherence, and robust parliamentary involvement in the shaping and execution of Ghana’s foreign policy, arguing that lawmakers should be comprehensively briefed on major diplomatic and security decisions and insisting that the executive branch is constitutionally obliged to keep Parliament informed and to seek its consent when required; delivering his remarks on the floor of the House after a presentation by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, he said it should not take intervention by the Minority Leader to prompt such briefings, voiced concern about what he termed weak interaction between the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the legislative arm, criticised the deployment of Ghanaian troops to Benin and Jamaica without prior parliamentary notification as undermining legislative oversight, and accused the administration of applying double standards in its stance on coups and regional security — particularly in its relations with Burkina Faso and Benin — warning that such inconsistencies could dent Ghana’s international standing and diminish democratic accountability.
