Dome-Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has justified her prolonged absence from parliament.
The former Gender Minister, who had faced public criticism for being absent for over a year, explained that she had been dealing with various challenges, including family matters involving her children.
In an interaction with traders and market women at the Dome market enclave, she stated, “I’ve already met a lot of you at home and explained why you haven’t heard from me for over a year and a half. I know that being my mothers, sisters and aunties; you understand certain things.
“As women, there are times you need to go through what women go through or do what women do. What really accounted for my absence, I know it is slanted but not broken.”
She went on to share that her first male child had experienced a serious illness, which had initially led her to leave her parliamentary duties temporarily with the intention of tending to her family. However, unforeseen circumstances disrupted her plans, and she could not return as quickly as she had hoped.
“Along the line, my first male child suffered a certain illness and I had to leave, which in my thinking was supposed to be for a short time to go and fix my home. But the devil who had other plans against God’s work, did not allow things to go that way,” she explained.
During the period of her absence, Sarah Adwoa Safo was a Member of Parliament and held the position of Minister for Children, Gender and Social Protection, which exacerbated the challenges her party faced in Ghana’s hung parliament. Her absence resulted in a shortage of a single vote for the ruling party, causing difficulties in passing government-related matters in the House. This led to accusations that she was undermining her own party’s interests, and some called for her removal from the House and her executive role.
It was later revealed that her extended absence was due to a series of distressing events, including threats from the US government to take custody of her two children. Her spokesperson, Seth Kofi Osei Kissi, disclosed these details in an interview on Radio Universe on September 20, 2023.
Kissi explained that Adwoa Safo had received a threat concerning the potential loss of custody of her children while she was in the US. She further revealed that another contributing factor to her absence was the tragic loss of her newborn baby shortly after giving birth.
According to Kissi, Adwoa Safo found herself in a difficult situation, as the cultural norms and practices in the US were different from those in her home country. The threat of losing custody of her children, particularly her son, who had a medical condition, weighed heavily on her. The situation became overwhelming, causing her to lose contact with her family and leading her to focus on her child’s health issues.
Despite these challenges, Sarah Adwoa Safo has returned to her parliamentary role, albeit without her ministerial position, and has announced her intention to run for re-election in the upcoming parliamentary primaries. She has also extended her apologies to her constituency and party members for her prolonged absence and is currently engaged in stakeholder consultations ahead of the NPP’s parliamentary primaries.
