Dr. Sekou Nkrumah, son of Ghana’s first president has described as “disrespectful,” plans by the UK government to make Ghanaian visitors pay a £3,000 “security bond” to enter the country.
The idea, to be piloted from November, is aimed at deterring people from “high risk” countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ghana and Nigeria staying in the UK once their short-term visas expire.
The UK government says the problem of so-called “overstayers” is one of the biggest challenges facing the immigration system and they want to target visitors from certain countries who present the greatest risk.
But on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme on Tuesday, Sekou Nkrumah blamed the development on poor leadership in the country.
According to him, African leaders are over reliant on the so-called “colonial masters” always begging them for favours and money, so they call the shots.
“The wealth in all these countries is coming from Africa, but they don’t respect the people after under developing the continent”.
Sekou Nkrumah said the Europeans still see Africans as uncivilized people and thus would impose any sanctions on them.
“They should not see Africa as just rich in resources; they should respect Africa for its culture and its people. If they are dealing with Africans they have to treat us with dignity and respect,” he stressed.
The political maverick urged the government to give Britain a taste of their own medicine by ensuring their citizens pay triple of the £3,000 if they want to come to Ghana.
He maintained that respect among countries should be reciprocal, therefore, “if they cannot give us that respect, then we should not show them that respect”.
“You will be horrified at the amount of money all these western countries make out of the so-called poor countries from visas. If they want us to pay so much money, then they must be made to pay huge sums”.
Sekou Nkrumah said the proposal by the UK government is “unacceptable” and must be condemned in no uncertain terms.
