No Cedis Please, Only Dollar - Chinese Embassy

The Ghanaian craze for anything foreign without proper investigation and analysis is making the Ghanaian youth fall prey to conmen, embassy officials, government officials, men of God who also double as visa contractors.

A recent investigation at the Chinese Embassy in Accra reveals that the Chinese Embassy has become the latest hotspot for all kinds of visa transactions where unsuspecting Ghanaians are reaped off hundreds and thousands of dollars through official and unofficial means.

Whilst the United States Embassy, the UK Embassy and most foreign embassies in Accra accept the Cedis equivalent of their visa fees quoted in US dollars or British Pounds, the Chinese Embassy only accept US$ in all its transactions turning away customers with Cedis equivalent of monies charged in dollars. It is alleged that the Ghana government is very much aware of this development but this time because they get 10% of fees paid for the processing of each visa that goes through the Chinese Embassy, they have no business to stop the Chinese from this unscrupulous act which does not help in the advancement of our bilateral relationship.

It has also been found that the Chinese have also started treating Ghanaians who are seeking visas to enter that country to do business as rift-rafts who deserve to be treated with the most contempt. For Chinese visas now if you do not have a visa in your passport showing that you have traveled outside Africa before (what they termed travel experience), forget it. You will not even be allowed to enter to present your case which may have its merits. I wonder if the new Chinese Ambassador is made aware that the Ghanaian political economy is a property owning democracy which is built on buying and selling of Chinese products by Ghanaian unemployed youth? How then can he be turning aware desperate youth who are seeking opportunities to do business with his country for the simple reason that they do not have a travel experience? Has he forgotten where he is coming from? He should be reminded that no reasonable Ghanaian will choose polluted China over Europe, so they would prefer to traverse the desert on foot to enter Europe than to stoop for his bluff.

Applying for a Chinese visa now, you have to wake up and join the queue at midnight to pick numbers from unscrupulous security men at the embassy who are also seeking to make money out of the process. They give these numbers to their middlemen who in turn sell the first ten to the traveling public for fees ranging between One Hundred Thousand cedis and Two Hundred Thousand Cedis with 50% of the proceed landing in the pocket of the security operative at the mission.

Indeed, this development is actually hindering the smooth business transactions with the Chinese Embassy by the Ghanaian business community. But clearly, if the authorities themselves are involve in these unscrupulous dealings, what business do they have to try to rein foreigners who enter our country and take advantage of our people?

The new Chinese Ambassador to Ghana must be aware that Ghanaians will not tolerate his contemptuous treatment of our people. If our government cannot rein him to respect our people, we can call for his immediate removal or we can make his stay in this country very uncomfortable for him.