IMANI Centre for Policy and Education Founding President Franklin Cudjoe has rejected calls for Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to resign over the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa. He made the case in a written statement as the Minority demanded the Minister’s resignation or dismissal.
Mr Cudjoe argued that nobody has shown the Minister committed any crime in the operation. His colleague Kay Codjoe backed him with a constitutional analysis showing that the Minority lacks the numbers for a censure vote.
“Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is going NO WHERE! He remains our most diligent, effective, efficient, and impactful Foreign Minister since 1992!”
IMANI Centre for Policy and Education Founding President and Chief Executive Officer Franjkin Cudjoe
Mr Cudjoe built his defence on one point. “No one shouting and making noise has so far been able to convince any sensible Ghanaian that the Foreign Minister has committed any crime in the humanitarian evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.”
He urged readers to ignore the “noisy gang” behind the accusations and dismissed their presentations as entertainment. His assessment of the Minister’s record, including the claim that Ablakwa outperforms every Foreign Minister since 1992, is his own opinion.
How the Dispute Reached Parliament
The row follows the government’s evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa. Ghana welcomed the first evacuees with reintegration support, and the country later completed the evacuation of 1,900 citizens.
Questions about the payments followed. Hon Ablakwa insisted that all evacuees received their reintegration packages. The Minority then called for his resignation or dismissal, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry rejected that call.
Codjoe Questions the Evidence
Kay Codjoe, a writer and IMANI associate, wrote earlier that JoyNews has aired its documentary on the evacuation. He acknowledged its contribution to investigative journalism and reduced his concern to a single question: does the evidence justify the conclusions?
Government must account for every cedi, he noted, but journalism must equally account for every inference. “A discrepancy invites investigation,” he stated. “Only corroborated evidence justifies a conclusion.”
He also raised the quality of the Minority’s own analysis. Samson Anyenini had suggested the Minority may have rushed its reconciliation, perhaps with the help of artificial intelligence. Codjoe called that observation speculative and not a finding, yet he argued it exposed a legitimate worry about the numbers underneath the case.
The Constitutional Arithmetic
The Minority has demanded the Minister’s resignation, urged the President to dismiss him if he refuses and threatened a parliamentary vote of censure. Kay Codjoe tested that threat against Article 82 of the Constitution.
A censure motion needs one third of all MPs to start it and two thirds of the entire House to carry it. In a Parliament of 276, that means 92 signatures to begin and 184 votes to succeed.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) holds 87 seats, so it needs five more signatures merely to initiate proceedings. To carry the motion, it would need 97 votes beyond its own caucus.
Even then, the Minister would not fall automatically. Kay Codjoe pointed out that Article 82(5) leaves revocation of his appointment to presidential discretion. “A press conference can announce a motion. It cannot manufacture a constitutional majority.”
A Leadership Quarrel Within the Minority
Kay Codjoe also turned to a second storyline inside the Minority. Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Appiagyei has warned that any attempt to remove Hon Alexander Afenyo-Markin as Minority Leader would incur the wrath of Ghanaians. Kay Codjoe responded with sarcasm and questioned who made her custodian of the public’s anger.
He closed with a call for restraint. The Republic deserves better than dramatic headlines, political ultimatums, and calculations detached from evidence, he argued, and he reminded readers that the loudest accusation is not necessarily the strongest case.
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