Okudzeto Ablakwa Was Unprepared, Showed No Seriousness During Meeting with U.S. Ambassador over Tariffs—Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

The Member of Parliament for the Ofoase Ayirebi Constituency in the Eastern Region of Ghana, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, slammed Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, for being unprepared during a recent meeting with the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer.

Speaking during an interview with Adom Fm, the former Information Minister said Ablakwa showed no seriousness in summoning the Ambassador to a meeting to explain why the American government was levying tariffs on Ghanaian exports when President Trump already made clear his reasoning for the tarriffs.

Opong Nkrumah said Ablakwa came off as unprepared and lacking seriousness with the reasoning for the meeting and called for better decisions to be made going forward while engaging with the U.S. on the tariff situation.

“The Minister met Palmer for the express reason of understanding the reasoning for the tariffs; however, President Trump already laid out his reasoning,” Oppong Nkrumah said. “And the Minister should have received a briefing ahead of time about the American decision. It seems the NDC are still stuck in campaign mode…”

Despite his criticisms, Nkrumah endorsed the decision to engage in diplomacy, noting that is the best way to engage the United States.

The former broadcaster said dealing with the U.S. is thorny because, aside from trade, they hold a lot of influence over the IMF and World Bank, both of which are institutions Ghana heavily depends on for financial assistance.

On April 7, Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Ablakwa met the U.S. Ambassador Palmer to dialogue on the U.S. decision to place a 10% import tariff on Ghana.

Palmer informed the media following the meeting that the U.S. would continue to engage government to understand the way forward amidst these challenges.

“I had a great conversation with the minister of foreign affairs, and we talked about how the relationship with Ghana is very strong, and how we can keep it going that way,” Palmer told the media.