FEGHADE pushes for implementation of ROPAL, Diaspora Policy

A delegation of the Federation of Ghanaian Diaspora in Europe, FEGHADE, led by Int. President Mr Michael Osei Mensah and Int. Secretary General, Naa Tsotsoo Soyoo I, called on the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Afari-Gyan and his Commissioners on Friday 27th March and Ambassador Leslie Kojo Christian, Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration with senior officers of the Diaspora Affairs Bureau on Wednesday 1st April 2015 respectively.

FEGHADE was birthed as a result of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration’s Diaspora Affairs Bureau initiated Consultative Meeting on Ghana Diaspora Engagement Policy, held from 28-29 October 2014 in Brussels, Belgium, and facilitated by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) within the framework of the Migration EU Expertise (MIEUX) project. Its dynamic founding membership is made up of key players and leaders of Ghanaian community organisations across Europe with proven track records for setting the agenda for a progressive Ghana.

Their mission in Ghana was to push for the implementation of the Representation of the Peoples Amendment Law (ROPAL), Act 699 of 2006 and to discuss ways in which FEGHADE as the main coordinating body for all Ghanaian organisations in Europe, may play its part in the shaping of Ghana’s Diaspora Engagement Policy.

Some of the key outcomes of the meetings were the affirmative commitment by the Electoral Commission to the implementation of ROPAL by year 2020 and the undertaking by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration to support the work of FEGHADE through formal accreditation as the main Coordinating Diaspora Organisation.