Chinese petition Mahama over unfair treatment

The Ghana-China Business Chamber of Commerce has written a petition to the President about the challenges faced by Chinese investors in Ghana. The Chamber also proposed concrete solutions to the myriad of challenges.

Just a week after receipt of the petition at the presidency, National Security Advisor, Brig. Gen (Rtd) Joseph Nunoo-Mensah in a letter dated 18th March, responded and stated that “it is important that the issues raised in your letter are dealt with expeditiously. The allegations made are serious and need to be tackled for the benefit of the two countries”.

The National Security Advisor continued that he had “wanted to arrange a meeting between you (Ghana-China Business Chamber of Commerce) and the Director of Ghana Immigration Service to consider the issues raised and the proposals you made to improve on the current situation. Unfortunately, there has been a change in top management of the Ghana Immigration Service. The new Director of the Service is yet to take over. As soon as he does that, I shall convene the meeting to discuss all the issues you raised and a solution found to them”.

Unfortunately, checks by The New Crusading GUIDE, have revealed that no meeting has been called in face of growing acts of violence and harassment against Chinese investors especially in the mining sector.

Among the challenges the Chamber complained of was the “constant newspaper photos parading Chinese nationals as illegal immigrants. We feel it is over the top and unnecessary”.

“Of course we agree immigration laws of Ghana must be obeyed at all cost but immigration is not a criminal matter but a human issue global, so it can be handled with a human face without excessive media advertisements," the Chamber stated further.

The Chamber also level delegations of extortion against the Ghana Immigration Service and appealed for the intervention of the President.

The Chamber in proposing solutions to the immigration problems stated: “We can help establish a working visitor visa valid for one year at a fee of $600.00 exclusively to Chinese nationals….Immigration policies must be adjusted to benefit Ghana”. To buttress their point, the Chamber cited a special arrangement for nationals of the United States of America who visit the United Kingdom because of the revenue the UK gets from tourism.

It was the belief of the Chamber that if the proposal was taken onboard, the government of Ghana would get “revenue instead of individual immigration officers” who receive them as bribes.

Touching on investment opportunities in Ghana, the Chamber stated that it could help factories to relocate to Ghana to improve the lot of Ghanaians adding that it had the capacity to replicate the current status of Dubai in the country.

“The Chinese appetite to invest in foreign countries especially in Ghana is there but it must be carefully managed to maximum benefit to Ghana and China," it added.