The Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Frank Annor Dompreh, is hopeful government will urgently address the challenges associated with the US’ change in the visa issuance regime to Ghanaians.
The United States Embassy in a statement issued on Wednesday indicated that the government of Ghana was not complying with international obligations regarding the issuance of travel documents to Ghanaians awaiting deportation in the USA.
[contextly_sidebar id=”jO8qX6msHKdPJUbEH2uADuijLQIPRhy5″]The statement said the US would be forced to begin implementing visa restrictions in accordance with its laws as a responsibility owed the American people.
But according to Frank Annor Dompreh, the government cannot be blamed for the development.
He said Ghana is only part of the countries at the receiving end of the diplomatic storm the world over, generated by US President Donald Trump.
Speaking to Citi News’ Duke Mensah Opoku, the Nsawam Adoargyiri MP insisted that Ghana would capitalize on its good relations with the US to settle the issues amicably.
“They haven’t expressly said they are going to restrict visas. It is only probably. We don’t have any bad history between Ghana and the US. If you put matters in context, in recent times President Trump, there has been issues with his tweets and commentaries not just relating to Ghana but across the world, even with his own allies. It is a concern… I am very confident that at the end of the day, we will be able to come out of it successfully,” he said.
Frank Annor Dompreh said the challenge is a result of lack of proper communication between the US Embassy and Ghana’s Foreign Affairs ministry.
He added that the US Embassy must accord Ghana the opportunity to confirm the true citizenship of the supposed Ghanaians in the US who have been scheduled to be deported for various offences.
Meanwhile, a former presidential staffer, Dr. Clement Apaak, has blamed the government for the situation. According to him, the government failed to act proactively in dealing with the concerns raised by the United States government about delays in issuing travel documents to Ghanaians awaiting deportation in the US.
The Builsa South legislator in an interview on Eyewitness News said the government did not show a keen interest in the matter when it was initially raised by the US Ambassador, Robert Jackson sometime ago.
US bullying Ghana with visa restrictions threat – Kpessa Whyte
A lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Institute of African Studies, Dr. Michael Kpessa Whyte, has accused the United States government of trying to bully Ghana with its recent visa restriction threat.
The United States (US) government has threatened to impose visa restrictions on Ghanaians if the Ghana government fails to comply with international obligations regarding the issuance of travel documents to Ghanaians awaiting deportation in the US.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
