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Opinions of Saturday, 23 July 2011

Columnist: Quaye, Stephen A.

Poor Ghanaians Paying Thousands Of Dollars For Visa

Immigrants Dreams Fading Away Fast?

From: Stephen A. Quaye, Toronto-Canada.

Sometimes it sounds so funny when one reads stories about people so obsessed to travel to ABROKYERE and the way they allow themselves to be swindled by so called visa contractors who promise to sail them through to their foreign destinations successfully.

Really, often times when one reads these stories it sounds like reading a story book to have fun but rather they are true stories of incidents which happened and continue to happen everyday.

The story once posted by Joy F.M. on its webpage where a judge in Asante Akim South District Mr. Justice S.K.Sarpong Appiah, raised concern about the unbridled quest by many Ghanaians to travel to overseas without following laid down procedures needs not be brushed away at all.

Justice Sarpong Appiah, needs to be commended as a legal brain that has among other things raised his neck out of the lot to express his concern about a serious issue confronting the country and its citizens at the moment.

He did not just discharge his duties as sitting in his chair, waiting for lawyers to come and serve as counsels for accuse and defendants but passed a comment which the authorities must take it serious and work to solve the canker now.

In fact I often not bother to read comments of stories posted on the webpage but for this story, I ventured to find out what readers have posted there as their reactions to the story. To my surprise, some of the commentators gave some good reasons reason why as a country the authorities must sit up to solve the canker. If we are to consider what a commentator by the name William said, there would be enough reason to put this piece together and stress more on the need for the government to act.

He appealed to Justice S.K.Sarpong Appiah, to speak to the embassies for them to know that some of their unscrupulous staff has created these visa contractors and since they share the booty, well never let their embassies crack down on swindlers.

Williams’s plea that the embassies should issue visas to those with valid passports as well as with return tickets was welcomed but that was not the problem since most of the victims have valid passports only that they are too obsessed to travel so they do not ask themselves whether the visas are genuine. George Yirenkyi, another commentator, posited that Ghanaians travel to ABROKYERE, because politicians have destroyed the health system whiles they seek medical attention abroad, destroyed the educational system whiles they send their children to school in overseas institutions, and destroyed the economy making women to go into prostitution whiles men do menial jobs in abroad.

Many Ghanaians, who were employed in the public and private sectors but got swayed by the juicy promises of job and other better living conditions, should they travel to ABROKYERE, are today regretting for having quit their jobs and doing menial jobs for pay cheques that can not let them initiate any project back home in Ghana.

Even some professional expertises have put away their tools and are doing menial jobs in many foreign countries. They are either now doing factory job for 10 dollars an hour, picking orders at the restaurants whiles or baby sitting for something menial.

This week, the federal government of Canada is taking steps to revoke citizenship status it granted to about 1,800 people which investigations have revealed that they used fraudulent means to get their citizenship.

Accordingly sine the confederation was formed in 1867; the federal government has only revoked the citizenship of 67 people. However it is ready to revoke the citizenship of 1,800 although it will not be a quick process.

Story posted on the government website warned,” naturalized Canadians born in another country but who immigrated here and becomes citizens can also have their citizenship revoked if convicted of fraud in relation to their citizenship application if their original admission to Canada as an immigrant was completed using fraudulent documents”.

So with this will you pay a whooping 1 2,000 dollars to a visa contractor who promises to aid you scale the border using fraudulent means only for you to have your citizenship revoked afterwards? OVER TO YOU JOE LARTEY, A WORD TO THE WISE IS ENOUGH. Part 3 Will be submitted over the weekend. End