Samuel Abu Jinapor writes on Tuesday’s incident in Parliament

On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, the Minority caucus walked out of Parliament in support of MP Samuel Abu Jinapor. This occurred after Speaker Alban Bagbin ordered his removal from the chamber for making unsubstantiated allegations about diplomatic passports. Jinapor, who serves as the Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, claimed that diplomatic passports are being sold, including for as little as GH¢50,000 and $10,000, to individuals who do not meet the constitutional qualifications.

However, Majority Leader James Agalga disputed these claims, stating that they were unfounded. The Speaker then requested Jinapor to retract his allegations, promising him that he could raise such a claim again once he had evidence to support it. Jinapor refused to do so, and the Speaker had the Marshal of Parliament escort him out of the chamber.

Shortly after, the Minority MPs followed Jinapor out. Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin defended his caucus, stating that they stand firmly behind Jinapor and cannot abandon him for his comments. He labeled the Speaker's decision as "harsh, high-handed, and unfair" and deemed it unparliamentary. This incident comes at a time when the Minority is increasingly criticizing the methodology behind the issuance of Ghana's diplomatic and service passports.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has specifically questioned the issuing of service passports to six individuals whose positions they claim were either wrongly described or did not exist, and have petitioned the United States Embassy to suspend the recognition of the affected passports pending further verification.