Adwoa Safo’s PA attributes long absence to still birth, kids custody, other reasons

Seth Osei Kissi, an aide to the Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya Constituency has revealed the reasons that accounted for the MP’s long absence from parliament some months ago.

According to Mr Kissi who doubles as the National Disaster Management Organisation Director for Ga East Municipal Assembly, the MP in 2020 suffered a series of setbacks that warranted a needed break from her job as a legislator and as gender minister.

“Going into the 2020 election we saw that Hon Adwoa Safo was pregnant, it is unfortunate that she lost the child after giving birth. She would have even lost her own life if God did not intervene.

"While she was at it, she got a call from the US that one of her children, she has a male and a female in the US and she had a call that the male had suffered a serious illness which could leave him crippled. So she went abroad and upon getting there another challenge she was slapped with was that she could have the children taken away from her.

“Excuse me to say, you suffered stillbirth, nearly lost your own life, your child suffers a serious illness and you are again told they might be taken away from you, where do you start from in such a difficult situation?” he narrated in an interview with Top FM.

Adwoa Safo, the incumbent Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, publicly apologized on Thursday, September 14, to the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), particularly President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and other party officials.

She cited personal and family issues as the reason for her extended absence from Parliament, during which her seat remained vacant.

The controversies surrounding her absence including the difficulties faced by the ruling party in getting required numbers to vote for the approval of bills in parliament, saw Adwoa Safo become the subject of heavy criticism including some calls for her removal as minister and her seat declared vacant.

She was eventually removed from her ministerial position, however, having since returned to parliament after several months, the MP has declared her intention to seek re-election in the 2024 parliamentary elections.

According to her aide, the MP was overwhelmed by the gravity of her challenges and that her failure to effectively communicate Ghanaians timely about the issue led to public upheaval she is now facing.

Nonetheless. Mr Kissi noted that the recent apology by Sara Adwoa Safo is in the right direction and thus appealed to Ghanaians, her party and constituents to find reason in her plight and forgive the MP.



GA/SARA

Click here to start the nomination process for the 2023 GhanaWeb Excellence Awards

Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.

You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV: