Ghana is a Zoo Saga

The German Embassy in Accra has replied a petition sent to it and the Ghana Foreign Affairs Ministry by Prince Tawiah Beidu, protesting against alleged maltreatment by the German authorities while he was on a visit there last September.

Mr. Beidu alleged that the German police manhandled him on the orders of one Herr Kraft, an official of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Germany.

On Monday, The Chronicle, in a front-page story titled "Ghana is a Zoo", published Beidu's petition in which he accused Kraft of having described Ghana as a "zoo" of black monkeys.

But the Embassy in its reply to the petition, has refuted the allegations.

In a letter dated October 22, 2003, signed by Kornelia Wagener, the Embassy stated emphatically that Beidu's claims of ill-treatment by German police officers and an official (Kraft) from Alien Authority of Germany, were baseless and unjustified.

The letter, addressed to Mr. Beidu, quoted a statement from the accompanying officer from the Aliens Authority by name Herr Kraft, which said that when Beidu was buying his train ticket, he behaved rudely and showered insults on Herr Kraft.

The behaviour of Mr. Beidu, according to the Embassy's letter, attracted the attention of other passengers and sales persons of the service center and "all those present can testify to the truth of this."

The Embassy registered its displeasure about how Mr. Beidu misrepresented the case to the Ghanaian media and the other addressees he made his petition to.

The Embassy further explained that Mr. Beidu's visa for 60 days had already expired before he was arrested on 21 September.

The letter said the visa, which was issued to him by the Netherlands Embassy was schengen that admittedly allowed him to travel to any member state of schengen, of which Germany is one.

In the case of Mr. Beidu, the letter said he could only stay in Germany up to September 14, but he had overstayed his visa at the time he was arrested on September 21.

It said: "since Mr. Beidu overstayed in the Federal Republic of Germany, it became illegal and there was the need for the police to put him in custody, pending his deportation."

The decision of the Herford police to arrest him became effective when a local court in Herford on September 22, agreed that Beidu be deported.

The letter further disclosed that, during the hearing, Beidu told the court that he had left his returning ticket in the container of a forwarding agency in Hamburg.

He was given the opportunity to go for the ticket to enable him leave Germany voluntarily, the letter stated.

Mr. Beidu, a computer programmer and Administrator at an FM station at Berekum in the Brong Ahafo, however accused the Embassy of "trying to cover up the bad things committed by Herr Kraft".

He said he would be glad if Kraft could come out specifically with the type of rudeness and insult he showered on him.

He re-called that when Herr Kraft stamped his passport on their way to the train station, he personally challenged the German official that he did not understand why his passport was stamped and that they should go back to court for explanation.

This, he stated, annoyed the officer and he crumpled the passport and threw it away.

Mr. Beidu said he would not sit down unconcerned for someone like Herr Kraft to insult blacks as monkeys and call Ghana a zoo.