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Ghanaians today are the most travelled Africans after Nigeria, and it is said that there is no corner of the planet where you wouldn’t find a Ghanaian community. From Europe to America to Australia and Asia, there are a growing number of Ghanaians who have sort of made these faraway places their new homes, and it is alarming to what extent a Ghanaian would go just to leave Ghana, and the worrisome truth is that this is fuelled by bad governance and the economic crisis it creates.
Today on Ghanaian soil, the United Nations estimates that there are close to a million Chinese nationals living in Ghana, and this figure is at least the official data, so one can imagine what the unofficial numbers could be if we decide to look closely.
Now, under normal circumstances, this should not be a problem if these foreign nationals are respecting and obeying our laws as a country, but sadly, that isn’t the case.
Many Chinese nationals have made the Tema Metropolitan area their home, and lots of Chinese businesses such as supermarkets, retail outlets, malls, clinics, casinos, and restaurants have all cropped up in Tema, and that has changed the economic framework of the city of Tema.
The downside is that it has created a high standard of living within the metropolis, with housing taking a direct hit because the Chinese are ready to pay any amount in dollars just to either buy off the property or lease/rent the property.
Property owners are also taking advantage of the situation and milking these Chinese nationals, thereby creating a lot of homeless families and individuals within the Tema township because once your rent is up, your landlord will double whatever you pay, knowing very well you can’t afford that, so that it can pave the way for the property owner to put the house up for rent to the Chinese.
Communities 9, 10, 11, and 12 are all fast becoming Chinese havens, and the scary part is that 80% of the Chinese nationals in the Tema area are all living in Ghana illegally, and the Ghana Police and the Ghana Immigration Service are fully aware of this.
Occasionally, there are some police swoops where the Chinese nationals themselves say that with 2000 Ghana cedis per person, the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Immigration Service are ready to look the other way and set them free rather than deport them to China. This practice is commonly known to many of the youth in the Tema township, thanks to the taxi drivers who sometimes get caught up in the police swoops.
Concerned citizens of Tema are beginning to ask questions, especially due to how poorly Ghanaian employees of some of these Chinese are treated. Some monitored activities of these Chinese nationals clearly show that money laundering and cash racketeering are at the height of their businesses in Tema, with many of the casinos being the cash fronts of their illegal activities. A close look into a few others revealed that the automobile business in Tema communities 11, 10, and 12 is all part of a larger syndicate where luxury 4x4 cars and pickups are brought into a yard where a lot of changes are made to the vehicles before they are sold.
The Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Immigration Service should be able to look into the above information and allegations that they collect 2000 cedis per illegal migrant and still set individuals free to conduct whatever business on our soil.
Finally, with the current high rate of youth unemployment, many of us are certain that the Ghana Police Service and Ghana Immigration Service can hire or recruit many of the youth in the Tema enclave to conduct investigative research for them so that the illegal practices of the Chinese people in this part of the country can be halted and the illegal migrants deported.
Tema has a Chinese prostitution ring that operates within the Chinese casino and restaurant spectrum and a few homes where Chinese women are put to service men from all walks of life under the guise of massage parlours.
For Ghana to rise up and take its rightful place on the global stage, Ghanaians should begin to say something. As a Ghanaian, when you see something that challenges your mind, ask questions or say something so that together we can help build a better and safer Ghana for all law-abiding citizens and people who want to live with us.
God continue to bless our homeland, Ghana, and I am hopeful the appropriate authorities can take cues from this.
