The British High Commission to Ghana has said it will not withdraw an allegation of visa fraud it levelled against Mr George Boakye, one of four Ghanaian MPs cited by the mission for the offence recently.
The former Asunafo South MP had his lawyers write to the High Commissioner, Mr Jon Benjamin, to withdraw the allegation against him.
The three others – all sitting MPs – who were also cited by the High Commissioner, include Richard Acheampong, MP for Bia East in the Western Region; Joseph Benhazin Dahah, MP for Asutifi North (Ntotroso) in the Brong Ahafo Region, and Johnson Kwaku Adu, MP for Ahafo Ano South West in the Ashanti Region.
In the specific case of Mr Boakye, the High Commissioner, in his confidential letter to Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, said: “On 11/09/2012, the then Honourable and now former MP for Asunafo South, George BOAKYE, applied for visas for himself and his 37-year-old daughter, Joyce BOAKYE, to visit a friend in London for 17 days. The visas were granted on 14/09/2012. On 17/01/2013, Joyce BOAKYE travelled to the UK with her Honourable father. Joyce BOAKYE did not leave the UK with her father, but remained until 06/01/2017. In other words, she finally returned to Ghana just this month, having been in the UK illegally for over three years, and only then at our strong urging of Mr Boakye to bring her back. Mr Boakye is highly unlikely to be issued any further visas to visit the UK in the next ten years for his role in facilitating his daughter’s travel to the UK, including should he be re-elected to Parliament in a subsequent election.”
In response to Mr Boakye’s demand for a withdrawal of the allegation made against him, the High Commission, through its lawyers A&A Law Consult, said: “The British High Commissioner is of the opinion that your client’s failure to report for nearly four years the continued illegal residence in the United Kingdom of his daughter, a person whose visit he had sponsored, does at the very least raise very serious questions.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
