Henry Nana Boakye denies pressuring Foreign Minister over service passport

Henry Nana Boakye, the Second Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has officially denied allegations that he pressured the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to retain a service passport. The rebuttal comes in response to claims made by the Majority Caucus, which suggested that Boakye was among those attempting to circumvent a standing directive for former officials to return official travel documents following the change in administration.

Providing details on the matter, Boakye clarified that his only engagement with the Foreign Ministry regarding his travel documents was a request to transfer a valid United States visa from his service passport to his ordinary passport. He explained that after being informed of the complex bureaucratic procedures required for such a transfer, he chose to abandon the process. He stressed that his intention was never to keep the service passport and that he had already moved to comply with the requirement to surrender official documents.

Boakye further criticized the allegations as a baseless attempt to create a political distraction. He argued that it would be illogical to seek the retention of a document that is no longer valid for his use under the current government. By addressing the claims directly, the NPP executive sought to reaffirm his adherence to the protocols governing the transition of power and the return of state property by outgoing officials, calling on political actors to focus on more pressing national concerns.