Visa Sanctions: U.S. 'bullying' us; let's 'respond in equal measure' – Ras Mubarak

Ghana’s Member of Parliament for Kumbungu, Ras Mubarak, has called on the government of Ghana to retaliate the visa ban imposed on Ghanaian nationals by the United States government, which he describes as bullying.

The American government imposed the visa sanctions over Ghana’s failure to live up to its obligations under international law by accepting its deported citizens from the United States.

Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has described the U.S action as uncalled for, since, according to the authorities, Ghana is complying with all arrangements towards receiving Ghanaians illegally living in the U.S.

The Ghanaian authorities said they need ample time to verify the nationality of the 7000 deportees.

Reacting to this development in an interview with Class News’ parliamentary correspondent, Ekow Annan, after the new U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan, paid a courtesy call on the leadership of Ghana’s parliament on Monday, 4 February 2019, Mr Mubarak said: “We are a sovereign nation, you can’t just expect us to deport 7,000 people who are claiming to be Ghanaians without thoroughly screening and vetting them…”

“I’m looking forward to seeing the government of Ghana respond in equal measure. We are equal partners in this and if the United States of America decides to ignore the weight of evidence that clearly shows that we need to take our time before we dump these people into Ghana, Ghanaians should be supporting the government to equally retaliate,” he added.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government said without an appropriate response from Ghana, the scope of the sanctions may be expanded to a wider population.