Adom-Otchere questions how Ashanti Regional Minister funded wife's childbirth trip to US

Broadcast journalist Paul Adom-Otchere has called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding a trip by Ashanti Regional Minister Dr Frank Amoakohene and his wife to the United States, where she gave birth.

Speaking on his Good Evening Ghana show on June 4, 2026, Adom-Otchere questioned how the minister and his wife, who is a nurse, were able to finance the trip.

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According to him, members of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) should be concerned about the potential political implications of the trip, calling for investigations into the matter.

"If I were NDC, I'll be querying him. You don't seem to have political maturity? We are in government, and then you fly to America with your wife, who is a public servant. Both of you work in the same hospital. You're a regional minister. Your responsibility is to make sure that the hospital works," he said.

Adom-Otchere, who was a former Board Chairman of the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) also referenced comments previously made by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa regarding the use of state resources by public officials.

"Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa sat on TV and said that he would resign from a government if presidential jets were used to fly people abroad. God being so good, God has a sense of humor. At the time they became president, they have had more people flown abroad than the entire 8 years of Akufo-Addo's government," he stated.

He alleged that the cost of the trip could have been between $40,000 and $50,000 and questioned how it was funded.

"A 36-year-old regional minister whose salary is not a salary that could have taken him to America. He comes to show that as regional minister who was also a doctor in the hospital, whose wife is a nurse in the hospital, both of them have traveled abroad, spending nearly $40,000. Amoakohene, this guy, he should be investigated," he said.

"His wife was flown to America to have a baby. Me and you, can our wife fly to America to have a baby when we are not government officials? Why is he able to do that? And we are not able to do that. He's able to do that because a government official, he has access to money and he decides what he does with the money," he alleged.

He argued that the minister had failed to consider how his actions could be perceived by the public and the impact they could have on the image of the government.

"That's why I'm saying that if I were the NDC regional chairman, I'll call him and say, 'hey, you can't do that. You are in government.' He doesn't care that he has to protect the image of John Dramani Mahama, who has had confidence in him. He doesn't care that he has to protect the image of Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang who has had confidence in him," he said.

Adom-Otchere also accused the minister of using public resources for personal benefit, although he did not provide evidence to support the claim.

"You take taxpayers' money and go to America to go and have a baby and you are telling us, the taxpayer who is paying, who cannot afford to go to America," he alleged.

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"You don't use your position to rob. Amoakohene is robbing Ghanaians by taking his wife to America to go and have a child in America so that the child will have American passport. And we are Ghanaians. We hold the green passport,” he concluded.

MAG/MA

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