Visa ban: Ghana must retaliate – Mubarak

The NDC Member of Parliament for the Kumbungu constituency on Monday called on the government of Ghana to retaliate the visa ban imposed on Ghanaian nationals by the United States.

The US Embassy in Ghana on Monday commenced the suspension of the issuance of all new visas to certain categories of applicants from Ghana.

The US department of homeland security (DHS) explained the visa sanctions were necessitated by Ghana’s “lack of cooperation” in accepting its citizens ordered removed from the US.

The DHS in a statement announcing the visa restriction warned further that Ghana would face more sanctions if the government’s posture does not change.

“Without an appropriate response from Ghana, the scope of these sanctions may be expanded to a wider population,” secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen said.

The Kumbungu lawmaker, however, called the bluff of the US government, describing the ban as “disrespect.”

“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,” he said.

According to him, the government of Ghana must stand its ground and respond in equal measure.

He said: “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.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in a statement dismissed claims by the US that it was not cooperating on the deportation of Ghanaians marked removed from the US, which had led to the visa ban.