“I am not aware that it was state funds that were used to bring Adwoa Safo back, so he who claims he is aware of such, seek answers from him, please,” the words of Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for Suame, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu.
He was speaking on Kumasi-based Kessben FM on March 3, 2022, when he was asked about allegations relating to how Dome-Kwabenya MP was transported back to Ghana from the United States late last year.
Asked about the status of the MP, whose continued absenteeism has become topical within her party and Parliamentary politics, he confirmed that he was still out of the country.
“Adwoa Safo is not in Ghana now, I think that fact is known to many people, including I believe yourself as a journalist. As we speak, I don’t know when she will come,” he added.
In a separate interview on Okay FM, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu confirmed that the MP who is also Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection has officially written to the Speaker of Parliament seeking an extended leave.
Ken Agyapong must provide proof that state resources were used to fly Adwoa Safo – Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
When asked for a comment by the host about a call by North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, for a probe into why state resources were used to ferry Adwoa Safo, from the US, he said the burden of proof was on those that made the allegations.
“Someone (Ablakwa) made an allegation and you (journalist) asked why we have to do that, so you believed him and asked about it, instead of asking whether there is any truth in the matter.
“Ask him what evidence does he have that it is state funds that were used to do that. That a special jet was used to bring her back, what evidence does he have about that and where is it?” he stated.
When his attention was drawn to the fact that the allegation was first made public by Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong, he stressed that the burden of proof then rests on Agyapong.
“If you claim Ken Ohene Agyapong has said something, seek an explanation from Ken Ohene Agyapong who claims it is state funds that were used to do something.
“You didn’t ask Okudzeto for proof and said it was Ken Ohene Agyapong who made the allegation. So, ask him because he is the one making the claim that the Chief of Staff has used state funds to do something of that sort,” he insisted.
Kennedy Ohene Agyapong last week repeated an allegation that the Chief Of Staff had hired a private jet to fetch Sarah Adwoa Safo from the US, at a time the government was looking to pass the E-Levy.
When she eventually arrived in the country, the absence of Speaker Alban Bagbin meant that the Majority was still unable to pass the Bill which was contained in the 2022 budget statement.
In the wake of the allegation of how she was flown in, Okudzeto Ablakwa citing intercepted travel manifests computed the amount involved and came up to over GHC900,000. He has subsequently called for a probe into the allegations made by Agyapong.
ghanaweb.com