Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs, struggled to defend his lavish lifestyle when he was subjected to scrutiny before Parliament’s Appointments Committee.
The Minister-designate, who has arrogated to himself the role of a citizen-vigilante, going after individuals’ properties, branding everyone a thief, and defaming people for owning assets in the country, could not explain how, despite never having worked in any private capacity outside politics, he could afford the kind of luxurious lifestyle he enjoys.
Answering questions before Parliament’s Appointments Committee, the North Tongu MP was visibly shaken and struggled to respond to inquiries about how he funded his luxurious Airport Hills hotel and his first- and business-class flights, compelling the chairman of the committee, Bernard Ahiafor, to come to his rescue.
Ablakwa, who has led raids on people’s properties, alleging that such assets were acquired through the looting of state resources, claimed that he had been renting his plush Airport Hills mansion for the past eight years. When asked how he had been paying the rent, the chairman of the committee quickly interjected and overruled the question, allowing Ablakwa to evade scrutiny.
When questioned about the mansion, given that all Airport lands are state-owned, and how someone appointed to chair a committee responsible for recovering looted state lands could himself be living on state land, the chairman again intervened to overrule the question. However, Ablakwa admitted to living in the dollar-priced Airport Hills, raising questions about how a person whose entire career has been in politics could afford such luxury while claiming to protect state resources.
Furthermore, he could not provide details of any private- or public-sector employment he had engaged in before entering politics. Yet, despite labelling others corrupt for flying business class, he could not commit to flying economy when travelling abroad. Instead, he claimed he would reduce the number of officials travelling on state duties so that this would not affect his extravagant lifestyle of enjoying first-class travel. This stance contradicts his previous calls for President Akufo-Addo and members of the previous administration to emulate Tanzania’s late President John Magufuli’s lifestyle of traveling economy.
On the arrangement for Members of Parliament to secure vehicles through the car loan programme, Ablakwa, who has been at the forefront of opposing the initiative, was found to have personally benefited from it since entering Parliament. In 2021, the North Tongu MP filed a private members’ motion urging Parliament to reject a $28 million loan intended to finance the purchase of vehicles for legislators. He called on his fellow MPs to oppose the practice of government-facilitated loans for MPs, arguing that they should instead secure private loans like any other citizen.
However, during his vetting, it emerged that in the same year, he took out the loan to purchase two luxury saloon cars, equivalent in price to a modern V8 Land Cruiser. Earlier, in 2009, when he was a Deputy Minister and had access to state-financed vehicles, he still took the loan to buy a luxurious V8 Land Cruiser. During his second term, he used the funds to purchase a combine harvester for his private business in his constituency, further exposing his hypocrisy and contradictions.
Ablakwa also claimed during the vetting that he had incorporated a company in 2008 but stopped operating the defunct business when the NDC won the election that year to avoid a conflict of interest. Ironically, now that the NDC is back in power and he has been nominated as Minister for Foreign Affairs, he told the committee that he had just incorporated a new company, in which he is the sole shareholder and beneficial owner, raising questions about his credibility and ability to adhere to his own stated principles.
