We are not involved in any visa deal - Veep's Office

The Office of the Vice President on Friday denied any knowledge or involvement in a case in which one Yiremea Suleimana is alleged to have collected 2,500 dollars from a Madam Mariama Mama Tula on the pretext of including her on the Vice President's entourage to the United States.

At a news conference in Accra, Mr Andrew Awuni, Special Assistant to the Vice President, said Suleimana was not an employee of the Presidency.

He said the Vice- President's Office did not handle the travelling arrangements of the Vice President and it was thus impossible for them to include any illegal names.

He said: "We wish to state categorically that the Vice-President does not know anything about the alleged fraud and none of his officers is aware of the case.

"We wish also to state that nobody by the name of Suleimana Yiremea works in the Office of the President. The travel arrangements of the Vice President are handled by the State Protocol and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

Mr Awuni expressed concern about the inability of media practitioners, who had ran the story on the allegation on radio and in newspapers, for over two weeks now, should have contacted the Office of the Vice President to cross-check the allegations in line with the ethics of Journalism.

He said: "It is a bit strange to us that over the two weeks period that some radio stations and newspapers have been carrying the said story and granting interviews to Mariama Mama Tula, no reporter has approached the Office of the Vice President to ascertain the truth or otherwise of the allegations."

Mr Awuni stressed that the Office of the Vice President welcomed any reporter, who wanted to do ask questions or do a follow-up for a story.

Answering questions from Journalists, Mr Awuni said the Police could investigate to establish who Suleimana and when found, deal with him if he had defrauded anybody, adding that it did not help the nation to tarnish the image of the Vice President for no apparent reason.