US visa sanction: Ghana must respond in equal measure

The Member of Parliament for Kumbungu, Ras Mubarak has urged the government of Ghana to retaliate the visa ban imposed on Ghanaian nationals by the United States government.

The American government has imposed visa sanctions on Ghana for the West African country’s failure to live up to its obligations under international law to accept the return of its nationals removed from the United States.

Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has described the U.S action as uncalled for, since, according to authorities, Ghana is complying with all arrangements towards receiving Ghanaians illegally living in the U.S.

The Ghanaian authorities said they need ample time to verify the nationality of about 7000 people marked to be deported by the American authorities who claim to be Ghanaians.

Reacting to this development in an interview with Class News’ Parliamentary Correspondent, Ekow Annan after the new U.S Ambassador to Ghana Ms Stephanie S. Sullivan had paid a courtesy call on the leadership of Ghana’s Parliament on Monday, 4 February 2019, Mr Mubarak said Ghana is a sovereign nation and must respond in equal measure.

He said: “We are a sovereign nation, you can’t just expect us to deport 7000 people who are claiming to be Ghanaians without thoroughly screening and vetting them…”

“I’m looking forward to seeing the government of Ghana respond in equal measure. We are equal partners in this and if the United States of America decides to ignore the weight of evidence that clearly shows that we need to take our time before we dump these people into Ghana, Ghanaians should be supporting the government to equally retaliate,” he added.

Meanwhile the U.S government said without an appropriate response from Ghana, the scope of the sanctions may be expanded to a wider population.