The Minority in Parliament has questioned the legal basis for Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa’s demand for former Ghanaian Ambassador to the United States, Hajia Alima Mahama, to refund monies linked to activities at the Ghana Embassy in Washington.
Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel A. Jinapor, said the demand appears to include expenditure incurred outside Mahama’s tenure.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Damongo MP said the Minority supports accountability and the recovery of public funds but insisted that any such action must follow due process.
The concerns stem from a Special Audit Report by the Auditor-General on the Ghana Embassy in Washington covering January 2017 to June 2025.
The report examined alleged financial and operational irregularities at the mission.
Following the audit, Ablakwa wrote to Mahama demanding a refund of monies allegedly linked to the findings.
The Minority, however, is challenging the procedure used by the Minister.
It argued that under Article 187 of the Constitution, the power to disallow expenditure and impose surcharges rests solely with the Auditor-General.
“Article 187 of our national Constitution establishes the Office of the Auditor-General and guarantees its independence. The power of disallowance and surcharge following an audit is vested solely in the Auditor-General under Article 187(7)”.
The Minority therefore questioned the authority under which the Foreign Affairs Minister demanded the refund.
It added that where the Auditor-General imposes a surcharge, the affected person has 60 days to either pay or appeal to the High Court.
“The procedure adopted by the Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs seeks to circumvent this laid procedure and curtail the former Ambassador’s appeal against surcharges,” the statement said.
Jinapor also raised concerns over Mahama’s claim that she was not given an opportunity to respond to the audit findings.
Mahama was quoted as saying: “The auditors neither spoke to me nor wrote to me to respond to any issue/observation.”
The Minority said due process required that she be given a hearing before any conclusions were reached.
It also questioned why the demand covers activities between 2019 and 2025, when Mahama served as ambassador from June 2021 to January 2025.
“Nowhere in the audit report is it suggested that the amounts being demanded occurred only during the tenure of Ms. Mahama,” the statement said.
“Why will the former Ambassador be held accountable for matters that occurred prior to her assumption of office and those that occurred after leaving office?”
The Minority further noted that the Special Audit Report had not been laid before Parliament at the time of its statement, which it said is required under Section 16 of the Audit Service Act.
“This demand is, also, being made on the former Ambassador when no personal or joint liability has been established against her,” the statement added.
The Minority accused the government of repeatedly acting ahead of established legal procedures and publicly pronouncing people guilty before due processes are completed.
“The procedures prescribed by our Constitution and laws are not technicalities to be dispensed with when inconvenient,” it said.
The Minority maintained that it supports lawful efforts to recover public funds but insisted that such efforts must comply with the Constitution and other applicable laws.
