Statement: Re-Visa Scandal At Foreign Ministry

27 September 2010

Press Statement for Immediate Release

DISCLAIMER: RE-VISA SCANDAL AT FOREIGN MINISTRY

The Secretary-General of the All-Africa Students Union has received the news of the visa scandal linked to one Mr. Karim Hakib by the embassy of the United States of America in Ghana as reported in the Ghana news web of today 27 September 2010. We want to dissociate the AASU Secretariat from this sad occurrence. Mr Karim Hakib is neither a staff nor officer of the All-Africa Students Union. He was once elected as representative of the National Union of Ghana Students, NUGS to the Secretariat of AASU but was recalled by the NUGS for gross misconduct by the same union in a letter dated 10th December 2009 and addressed to the Secretary-General of AASU. (Please see the attached). It was also on record that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ghana was duely notified of his removal.

We are also aware that Mr. Hakib Karim has been impersonating the union since his removal and at a point arrogated to himself the position of the AASU Acting Secretary-General to defraud the unsuspecting members of public. We formally intimated the Police of our discovery of an account illegally opened on the name of the All-Africa Students Union, AASU, at the Medina branch of the United Bank of Africa, UBA, in Accra by same Mr. Abdul-Karim Hakib and one Mr. Haford Amoh. These two people are not AASU officers and they are not in anyway directed to open an account in the name of AASU.

When this illegal account was discovered in January 2010, we contacted the bank through a letter dated 5th January 2010. The mode at which the account was opened to covertly clear a cheaque worth Thirteen thousand two hundred Cedis (13, 200 GHC within two days was highly suspicious. An official report was subsequently made on this matter to the Police CID Department at Ghana Police Headquarters on the 6th of January 2010 leading to the arrest of the two suspects involved in the opening of the account.

Shortly after their arrest, we received a phone call from Mr. Kingsley Karimu, a Director in the African section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who claimed to be calling on behalf of the Honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs. He claimed that the Hon. Minister has directed that the case be withdrawn from the Police with an assurance of looking into the matter as soon as possible. To our surprise, nothing has been done about the issue till date and we are beginning to doubt if truly Mr. Kingsley Karimu acted on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

On our side, we have reported this issue of criminal invasion of the AASU Secretariat directly to the President of Republic of Ghana, Prof. Atta Mills. The president ordered the Ministry of Education to intervene of which Mr. Hakib Karim was instructed by the Ministry to leave the AASU office immediately after lengthy investigation to authenticate the claims against him.

Finally, we want to assert that AASU is a continental body that only has her headquarters in Ghana based on a Protocol Agreement signed with the Ghana government in 1987 which recognizes AASU as a regional organization hosted by NUGS and supported by Ghana government. We will not allow any individual to rubbish the integrity of our union and we hereby condemn such criminal act. We also call on the Police to conduct through investigation and bring to book all those involved in the ignoble act.

Olufemi Lawson Office of the Secretary-General, AASU