Not borne by tax payer, no per diem – Ablakwa sets the records straight on his Romanian trip

Ranking Member on Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has clarified some reports surrounding his recent trip to Romania.

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, travelled to Romania to meet with some Ghanaians including students who fled to safety from Ukraine.

After using the opportunity to gather first-hand information on the condition of the students and government’s efforts to evacuate Ghanaian citizens, Samuel Okudzeto, in a Facebook post sighted by GhanaWeb indicated that he has departed Romania to Ghana.

While sharing his experience, the MP who sought to set straight, records about his trip stated that, contrary to some reports, his trip was not at the expense of the taxpayer.

“May I conclude by providing a response, particularly to those who appear to be asking without malice; my trip to Romania was not funded by the taxpayer, neither did I receive per diem, and I certainly didn’t fly to Romania with a private jet as some have alleged. This modest initiative was entirely private funded,” he stated.

Read the full post by the North Tongu MP below:

ROMANIAN REFLECTIONS
Sharing a few thoughts as I transit on my way back to our dear motherland.
In many respects, my visit to our students seeking refuge in Romania after they fled Ukraine following the Russian invasion has been most impactful and revealing.

It does not matter that I have never met any of these courageous students neither am I related to any of them by way of family ties; what really matters is that we share a common humanity, and as I have always believed — compassion must be at the heart of our politics.

Our country and our democracy has all to gain when we encourage such oversight visits from MPs. The late Senator John McCain was celebrated by Americans for his numerous visits to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan when he refused to be an armchair legislator who only waits for reports from the executive. McCain as Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman during the Obama presidency rather opted to directly engage with US troops at various theatres of conflict including famously spending 4th July, 2016 (US Independence Day) with American soldiers in Afghanistan for an objective and hands-on assessment of the concrete ground situation.

The progressive and dynamic leadership of the NDC caucus in Parliament led by the outstanding Hon. Haruna Iddrisu deserves credit for having this understanding and for creating the congenial environment for Ranking Members and NDC Committee Chairmen to take initiative.

Back in Bucharest, Romania; our students were both excited and surprised to see me. I was even more happy to see them and to confirm that they were indeed out of harm’s way.

It was obvious that my visit had fulfilled a reassuring and uplifting purpose for our students.

Listening to them, there is no doubt our students have been to hell and back. The quintessential Ghanaian spirit of survival and resilience in the face of adversity has served our students well.

The Government of Ghana, in all objectivity, must be commended for the decision to evacuate our fellow citizens back to Ghana.

As I have indicated elsewhere, our country owes Romania a debt of gratitude. Their rare hospitality, genuine kindness and infectious love, particularly by their devoted volunteers for our students must be eternally highlighted. I did observe with admiration how they were never late with their lunch packs.
NUGS-Ukraine has been phenomenal with their leadership. They represent the greatness and smartness of the Ghanaian youth.

The Pentecost Church (PENSA – Europe) have ignited fresh hope in what it actually means to be Christlike. Thank you very much Elder Joshua for generously driving me around — I shall “retaliate” when you visit Ghana.

So, here is a summary of my key observations and recommendations:

1) Our focus should not only be on our lucky nationals who have managed to cross Ukrainian borders into Romania, Hungary, Poland, Czech, Moldova and Slovakia. We need an urgent diplomatic multilateral strategy which must result in a safe passage for rescuing over a hundred of our nationals trapped in Sumy and Kharkiv.

2) It is time to formulate a modern emergency response policy for Ghana’s Foreign Ministry and its diplomatic missions abroad.

Such a policy will largely address the gaps I identified which includes poor early response mechanisms, inadequate deployment of personnel (for instance, putting only one consular officer in charge of the entire Romanian evacuation was atrocious – even though I have commended him for doing his best in the circumstances), lacking any kind of physical presence at the borders to make prior arrangements and to confront the racial ordeal during crossing by our nationals and then not to have set up receiving camps across borders for our traumatized compatriots was a terrible oversight.

3) The delay in establishing a Consular Fund for our diplomatic missions aimed at serving as an emergency source of funds for supporting Ghanaians in distress which we have consistently advocated in Parliament for the last four years has once again exposed us. But for resources belonging to NUGS-Ukraine and the commendable PENSA support, initial evacuation into neighboring countries would have been almost impossible.

4) When we create a holding facility to temporarily house our nationals fleeing conflict or any other disaster as we have done in European capital cities like what we have at the Hello Hotel in Romania, it would be extremely useful to engage psychologists and medical professionals to attend to our compatriots immediately upon arrival. It is regrettable we didn’t make provision, accordingly. There are many of these professionals, particularly Ghanaian professionals abroad, willing and able to assist for free if only they are identified, engaged and mobilized. We must not underestimate the long term effects of trauma, unending flashbacks and extreme stress from the scourge of war on our young students.

5) The students legitimately need assurances that many years of academic sacrifices training to become medical doctors would not be wasted. This was their major concern when I hosted all of them to lunch on Wednesday. Considering that only few are on government scholarship, we shouldn’t leave the resolution of this to the students, their parents or the NUGS Executive. Government must step in to lead negotiations that will ultimately ensure that their academic pursuits are not unduly disrupted.

The great news from my good friend, the Bulgarian Ambassador to Nigeria and Ghana that his government has reached an agreement with Bulgarian universities to have Ghanaian students transferred to Bulgarian universities and be graduated is very heartwarming. This is significant testimony of the enduring bond of friendship between Ghana and Bulgaria which Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah pioneered. I hope this offer, together with what our own Ghanaian universities may be encouraged to come up with, is worth exploring with some urgency.

I shall reserve other sensitive matters for later consideration when the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament meets with the Hon. Foreign Minister and her team.

May I conclude by providing a response, particularly to those who appear to be asking without malice; my trip to Romania was not funded by the taxpayer, neither did I receive per diem, and I certainly didn’t fly to Romania with a private jet as some have alleged. This modest initiative was entirely private funded.

I wish all students journey mercies; our thoughts and prayers continue to be with you.

May peace prevail in our world, and may we be ushered into an era without the many conflicts currently afflicting humankind.