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Drug trafficking woes expose serious lapses in Ghana’s immigration system
Ben Ackah-Mensah,from Ghana in reference to the recent drug ceizures in Ghana’s territorial waters focuses on the looming immigration problem in his country.
Nana Osei Kofi Kanaka as I know him cannot be a drug trafficker. In his physique, demeanor, accent and tribal marks lay the evidence that he however cannot be anything but a thorough bread Nigerian, probably from Eboland, who claims to be a Ghanaian.
He knows very well that I did not believed him to be a Ghanaian when he mentioned that he is from Kumasi in the Ashanti region, said a few words in Twi and hinted that his Ghanaian royal parents had emigrated to Yaba when he was just a little boy aged nine.
Although, Kanaka (now from Dagenham) could not tell me which part of Kumasi he comes from (whether Bantama, Asokwa, Adum or Manhyia or etc) but he showed me a Ghanaian passport that has, allegedly, been issued to him in Accra.
Interestingly, by a stroke of luck, a bona fide Nigerian who claims to have grown up in Yaba with ‘Nana Osei Kofi Kanaka’ as “toddlers” said to me, “I didn’t know Shobola is your friend too”, when he saw me and ‘Kanaka’ the other day.
My suspicions of poor old Kanaka, late thirties, was immediately confirmed but now thinking about it seriously he could just be another of the many children caught up in the
confusing world of their parents’ lugubrious economic/migration deviances.
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It could be the case that, true, Kanaka is a Ghanaian whose ‘royal parents’ had sought to take advantage of a booming economic situation in Nigeria, (years back), and changed their identity to a local one. Hence, the name Shobola! It could also be the case of where Shobola tried and took advantage of a slipshod immigration system in Ghana as a safe passage to England, hence, the royal name – Nana Osei Kofi Kanaka.
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Currently, British immigration rules make it difficult for many young Nigerians to acquire visas to travel here. Whatever the case is, Shobola cannot pass as Kanaka. You can forgive the deep Nigerian accent, you can overlook his demeanor or misdemeanor thereof, however, a ‘royal parent’ just for mere economic reasons could not have inflicted tribal marks on him. Ashantis do not do that, period! That would be taboo. Even death would be just a minor reason for an Ashanti royal to succumb to another tribe’s fetishes.
Otherwise their great woman warrior, Yaa Asantewaa, would not have ended up in Seychelles. This then goes to suggest that Shobola may have traveled to Ghana and acquired a Ghanaian birth certificate that would have helped him secure a Ghanaian passport and ultimately a British visa on Ghanaian soil and traveled to London, his final destination. There are other people who have said that Shobola is not alone. SS (wants identity withheld) says, “I know of a Sierra Leonian who says traveling from Ghana to England is easier for them these days. He says going to Ghana is the hardest bit.
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Once you are there, you adopt a Ghanaian name get a passport and that makes it less stressful to travel to London). There are lessons in this. Due to regional agreements on the free-flow of goods and people / in Africa, traveling to and from Ghana within ECOWAS is less restricted. The good thing is people could come and go, as they like. This aids business, trade, development and ultimately growth.
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However, it makes criminal activities very difficult to detect. Just like a similar agreement with the European Union, the British media have complained a lot in recent times that criminal elements from some eastern European countries enter Britain easily without detection. By the above analogy I am not suggesting in anyway that Nigerians/Sierra leonians or other nationals enter Ghana just for devious reasons. Far from! Most are law-abiding people who are simply following the dictates of economic security and freedom.
However, despite the presence of regional agreements Ghana, just like any country, should ensure that there are strict and workable immigration systems that seek to minimize the influx of criminals and ‘undesirables’ into its territories.
For example, Ghana like most African states now faces serious challenges in the wake of the exposure of cocaine/police scandal currently haunting it. And if there is any one particular sector that should come under intense scrutiny then it must be our immigration systems. Ghana’s President John Agyekum Kuffour even realizes this as a serious problem when he called on citizens to help combat the menace of drug trafficking when he addressed an International Women’s Aglow durbar in the country recently.
The president said we do not have enough capital to acquire planes and boats to patrol our territorial waters. Apparently, a sizable amount of cocaine (with a street value of more than $200 million) intercepted on Ghana’s territorial waters aboard a fishing boat by the Narcotics Board has further exposed the laxity in our immigration systems.
Interestingly, in all the hullabaloos surrounding the cocaine/police saga nationals from Ecowas have been again mentioned. There are Columbians, Venezuelans, Ivorians, Lebanese and others nationals mentioned in relations to this saga. The covert recording of a meeting of the Ghanaian barons in a top copper’s residence is interesting listening to. It is assuring to know that Ghanaians are not the end users of this evil drug that could ruin our promises, dreams and hard work. It paints Ghana as a transit country. This is where the serious question lies. Why would Ghana be used as a transit point into Europe, America and elsewhere? The answer is simple. Our borders, our customs, excise, and prevention services, in fact, our detection machinery is weak. Our immigration systems would allow every Tom, Dick and Harry (to be frank, every Ade, Sanchez, Gomez, Kamal and Koussi) to enter or transit without stringent checks.
This paints a bad picture. The goodwill that Ghanaians have built up as a law-abiding people who travel to cause no harm is gradually being eroded. Now, we too are seen with suspicion. It is about time that we rethink and restructure our immigration processes. It is by all means good to be “Open to business” as President Kuffour said in his early years but we have got to be weary of who we do business with.
Let the Nigerians,Ivorians,Saleonian s come they are our brothers. Let the rest of the world come and live, tour, visit and do business in Ghana. We need them but let us make
sure that they do not come and pose problems for them and us.
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