Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin Anani Quashie has disclosed that two chartered aircrafts, carrying citizens based in South Africa are expected in Ghana in the coming days.
According to him, a total of 610 passengers from the two flights will be returning to beat the 30th May deadline issued against African migrants. Although he was unspecific about the exact day, he was convinced that, they will arrive “within two to three days”.
It will be the second time the government is sponsoring Ghanaians less than a week after the first batch of 297 onboard an Ethiopian chartered airline, arrived in Ghana last Wednesday.
Speaking on TV3’s Keypoints programme on Saturday, May 30, Quashie said the process of registering all Ghanaians, willing to return home through government initiative, are still on-going.
Asked when the process will end, he indicated that, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has been instructed that, until such a time that every Ghanaian interested in returning home is attended to.
“It will be an on-going exercise. It is a question I asked the Honourable Minister and he indicated to me that until every Ghanaian that wants to go home is taken home”, he said on TV3.
He denied rumours that, some Ghanaians who wanted to register and come home faced challenges and have been asked to go back and bring some documentations.
“Not at all. There is not a single Ghanaian who has faced challenges. In fact, it is the reason why we negotiated and got the chance to do the screening in the premises of the Chancery. All the officers are here in the Chancery so that if there is any problem it will be seen as they are on Ghanaian soil and we will solve it here rather than allowing our people to go to their offices and be arrested and put in the custody.
If there is anybody saying that they have been asked to go for certain documents, the only time they will ask you to go for document is people who come with children and they will come and tell you that oh he is not my kid, it for my uncle, it’s my sister’s kid. Those ones there are laid down procedures in the interest of those kids. Because the Department of Home Affairs are very strict on, we cannot ask them to do anything about it because they need to ascertain whether indeed these are your kids.
There are some mothers who say oh we want to stay back but we want to send our kid with a friend it is not allowed, the law doesn’t allow it so those are the ones we have had challenges with aside that.”
He urged anyone who genuinely has faced any challenge of a sort to come to the Chancery and they will resolve it for them.
As at the time he was speaking he said there are about 200 people at the premises going through the screening process so they can join the next flight.
By Gifty Boateng