Of visa fraud and the image of Ghanaian Parliament

It is very sad and unfortunate that the behaviour of some members of parliament of Ghana has brought the image of the august house into a state of ridicule. It is an open secret that many people in Africa use a false pretence to obtain visas to travel aboard in search of greener pasture of which Ghana is not exempted.

No human being would like to wallow in poverty when there is an avenue or opportunity for him or her to escape it even if it means treading on a dangerous path.Many Africans are being tortured and in some extreme cases killed in countries like Libya all in the name of making a living.like a wise one once said "Living is not for the weak". This is a wake up call to those whose the lives of citizens have been entrusted to them to govern to make sure that,living is not meant for the strong only,but also for the weak.

Some of our members of parliament have hit below the belt by flouting the visa rules of the United Kingdom.Those people are even in the position to know this better than anyone but they went ahead to use their position to abuse the system. Their actions have not brought shame to them only but has also soiled the image of our august house. It tells the world that our learned members of the house have not scintilla of self respect and no iota of respect for the august house.

In as much as we condemn the attitude of our members of parliament, it is also equally important to draw the attention of the British High Commissioner,Jon Benjamin to a matter of concern.He is a high profile person and must behave as such. Offlate,he has been known for creating unnecessary issues against leaders of Ghana and nothing is being done about it. He made a mockery of our former president John Dramani concerning Accra dubai and nothing was done about it just because he is from Britain.

I do not believe that a Ghanaian is capable of making a mockery of the Queen or the Prime minister of Britain and have his peace in their land. Some Ghanaians argue that the commissioner has the right to do what he did because he is solely here to represent his people and the image of his country, why then does he often meddle the internal affairs of our country?Let's not forget the bigger picture. It is not the MPs in questions that are put to shame but our very mother country Ghana. You do not throw away the bad water with the baby.

I believe those MPs could have been called to the high commission and questioned them about how they have abused their(Britain) system by using their position to acquired visas for their relatives,and did not come back. In my humble opinion,this issue should not have come to the public domain.In the letter of the commission,they made it clear that,they will also send copies of the letter to other missions in the country,and I ask,to serve what purpose? To soil the image of Ghana and the august house in particular or the MPs?

In conclusion, I am very saddened by the actions of the MPs but the way the issue was handled by the UK mission was not of the best.