Ghana did not send 337 delegates to Glasgow for COP 26 – EPA Boss
Claims that the government sent 330 delegates to Glasgow Scotland to participate in the ongoing COP 26 summit has been debunked by the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency Henry Kwabena Kokofu.
He indicated that out of the 170 initially listed by the government only 24 persons were able to make it to the summit.
“Some of them did not get their visas, others registered just to participate virtually, others couldn’t make it. By the count of the day, we had about 170 people as participants. And these 170 people, most of them are coming from civil society organizations, academia and the private sector. The government delegation per se amounted to 24 in number,” he said
Mr Kokofu’s clarification is coming on the back of some reports making rounds alluding to the fact that Ghana flew over 330 delegates to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) which is currently ongoing and will end on November 12 2021 in Glasgow Scotland.
According to the provisional list of Ghana published on the website of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Ghana’s contingent was led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Kwaku Afriyie; Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey; Minister of Local Government Decentralisation and Rural Development, Dan Botwe; and Minister of Energy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh were some of the officials captured as part of Ghana’s contingent on the summit.
The list also includes representatives from Parliament, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of the President, the media, among others.
However, the said list has generated some criticism as yet another example of the government’s penchant to engage in profligacy.
But according to the EPA boss, the number being bandied about as Ghana’s delegation is misleading.
“So, the 337 that is being bandied around is quite a misinformation. The number that presented themselves for registration not all of them were able to attend, and I have explained…
“And of the 170 that registered, it is on and off, people will come in for particular side events or workshops or engage in some negotiations and leave. Of the official 24 that are participating, we had some who did out of the week, because their schedules were the first week, they have left or they are leaving, and those who will come in the second week are being welcomed, so as we speak today out of the 170, 40 have left for Ghana already,” he said.
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
