Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North-Tongu in Ghana’s Volta Region, has strongly criticized the government’s decision to maintain a $150 COVID-19 testing fee for non-ECOWAS nationals at Kotoka International Airport, calling it “unconscionable.” In a statement shared on his social media handles, Ablakwa argued that this fee undermines the global cooperation needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
On January 31, 2021, President Nana Akufo-Addo announced that, following the 58th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on January 23, 2021, the cost of COVID-19 tests for ECOWAS nationals at Kotoka International Airport would be reduced to $50. However, the fee for non-ECOWAS nationals remains at $150. Ablakwa called for a review of this policy, warning that it could prompt reciprocal measures from other countries, potentially affecting Ghanaians abroad.
“Maintaining the cut-throat amount of US$150 for non-ECOWAS nationals is most unconscionable, particularly as Ghanaian nationals are not treated this way in other jurisdictions. What will be our reaction if other Governments reciprocate?” – Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Ablakwa further criticized the “profiteering mindset” during a public health crisis, emphasizing that Ghana missed an opportunity to set a positive example for ECOWAS by proactively reducing fees. He also reaffirmed the NDC caucus’s commitment to demanding a formal investigation into what he described as the “opaque and illegal” $150 fee charged by Frontiers Healthcare Services at the airport.
The MP’s full statement, posted on social media, reads:
“Finally, some progress on the matter of Ghana’s exploitative, retrogressive and punitive Antigen test cost at the airport. As I reiterated in Parliament last Friday, the President should have listened to Ghanaians long ago and not wait for an ECOWAS resolution. Ghana could have been the gold standard for ECOWAS.
Maintaining the cut-throat amount of US$150 for non-ECOWAS nationals is most unconscionable, particularly as Ghanaian nationals are not treated this way in other jurisdictions. What will be our reaction if other Governments reciprocate?
This is not the attitude needed to fight a pandemic which requires that all global actors look out for each other and especially when we are appealing to other countries through diplomatic channels to come to our aid with their vaccines. The President’s advisers have let him and all of us down. The profiteering mindset in the midst of a public health emergency of debilitating consequences is an affront.
Let me reaffirm the resolve of the NDC caucus in Parliament as contained in my Friday statement on the floor that we demand formal investigations into the entire opaque and illegal US$150 Frontiers Healthcare Services saga. We shall not relent.”
The controversy surrounding the testing fee highlights ongoing debates about equity and transparency in Ghana’s pandemic response. The NDC caucus has vowed to pursue accountability through parliamentary investigations.
