Covid test at Accra airport, a health check, or the opportunity to fleece?

E. Ablorh-Odjidja

May 2, 2021

There is a test for Covid on arrival at Accra airport. Unfortunately, this is beginning to look like an avenue for corruption.  But some say this may also provide the opportunity to test the genuineness of our government’s ability to fight both corruption and epidemics of this sort.

As it is presented, the Covid test is legally allowed.  But an honest look at it will reveal that there is a problem with the process – how it is set up.

Starting with the fee impact, when Ghanaians abroad arrive at Accra International Airport, they will note that the process impacts them more in ways that are not fair, compared to all classes of arrivals.

The non-resident Ghanaian needs to visit home and this need is greater than that of a casual traveler or tourist.  He is tied to the trip by heritage, family, patriotism, business, and other commitments, with heavy sentiments attached. 

So, when it comes to Covid inspection on arrival, he is, therefore, a magnet and a sitting duck.  

On arrival, the Covid test requires Ghanaians abroad to pay $150.00 at the airport. The provision for ECOWAS countries is $50.00 or another fee, depending on the officer one meets on arrival.

The difference in impact for the fees is explained by common absence.  The Ghanaian abroad is a citizen without a political constituency for not being able to vote.  ROPAA was passed in 2006 to redress this issue.  But he still cannot vote this late, despite the legal redress.  It can be argued that he, therefore, had no political stand in the institution of the Covid test and fees, despite all the known remunerations he brings from abroad to the country yearly.

So, on arrival, he is legally ready to be fleeced by the Covid test.  

The idea of a test is not what is offensive here. Not even the fees.  The offense is in the process.  In the end, this process can lock one up in a costly quarantine, coupled with other abuses, should one fail the test on arrival.

Stories are in from Ghanaians who visited Ghana from more advanced countries recently.  Those who had passed the Covid test before departure from foreign airports but had unexpectedly failed the imposed one on arrival in Ghana.  

The failures on arrival in Ghana compel one to wonder if the tests in Ghana were more scientifically honest than the ones taken abroad and before departure.  And if so, how this “scientific” reversal can be explained?

Incidences of the reversal are being reported, but we are yet to hear from the government as to why these setbacks. And how tests in Ghana can be more scientifically precise than those from the more advanced countries abroad.

These are concerns of complainants and they are in the minority. But they bear the brunt of the penalties and the discomforts that come with them.  And they think the tests are suspiciously staged, done so for the sake of corruption.

There is a cogent basis for suspecting corruption knowing the complainants arrive mostly from more advanced areas of the world, from highly scientifically sophisticated countries - USA, Germany, UK, etc. 

The trustworthiness of a comparatively modest scientific Ghanaian process becomes a problem because it might seem to have a more scientifically sophisticated system than those accepted abroad.  Or at least pretends to be.

Given the above situation, how could these complainants be said to have no grounds to challenge the process?  Just asking and not trying to be offensive or snobbish.  But the task is to look out for the overall health and sanity of our dear Ghana.  

And for the sake of dear Ghana, the Ghana government must provide statements concerning proof of the scientific superiority of its Covid testing system. And also, how the revenue from the tests is being used.

Some citizens have found their vacations ruined, their returns delayed and the cost of the visits mounting.   Worse, they have had their life put on pause for the entire stay, sometimes stretching for weeks on end.

Meanwhile, the sane assumption would have to be that if a negative test from London could scientifically turn up positive in Ghana, then chances are that one from Ghana could also turn up wrong at times, even in Ghana. Has this thinking occurred to some Ghanaian officials who oversee the process? 

They would rather gleefully and nonchalantly subject the visitors to the harsh consequences of a failed local test, even if contrived!

In the US the cost for a home Covid test kit is about $100 for three separate tests, which means the real cost per test is under $35.00.  However, the regular test is free for the average citizen traveler when done by the government.

In Nigeria, the test on arrival is about $120, some $30 cheaper than that in Ghana. This is not to applaud the Nigerians, but it will be worth noting the differential and observing that the Ghanaian version is meant to extract more.

The fleecing situation is not limited only to Covid tests.  At every turn in the system, the Ghanaian abroad on arrival at home is never spared some extortions.  Similar paradigms exist at our harbors, where customs officials use arcane tricks on duties and regulations allowed to fleece the non-domiciled Ghanaian.  

True, a pandemic is raging, and the world needs to be vigilant at all points.  But the fear of the pandemic must not lead to corruption.  

Simply overriding or ignoring previously successful scientific tests from the more advanced countries before arrival must not be the way to combat this pandemic.

A test must be assumed to be valid if the result comes from the same scientific standards that are equivalent or superior to ours in Ghana.  This policy of blanket suspicion on all covid test reports from all points must not be allowed.

Even so, the cost of $150.00 per test is too steep for a returning Diasporan or anyone else.  How much of this sum would end up in government coffers?  Abuses in the Covid test fees could happen. The government must know of the penchant for excessive corruption already in the country. 

But how well does it intend or is prepared to police the Covid test process from massive abuses?

 The traveler is intentionally reported as Covid positive by some dishonest official, with links to others.  Even if the government takes all the $150 for a test fee, there would still be an opportunity for corruption by officials in the end or along the process.

The unfortunate traveler is placed in quarantine of the official’s choice and removed from any real information of his understanding.  

He is now a hostage who is forced to lodge at a hotel that is not his choice and at the mercy of a conspiracy of some individuals, including hotel proprietors and government officials.   He will be squeezed for money, all because of a false Covid test result, and sadly with the connivance of the government.

All that will be required is for one criminal at the entry point to change a covid test result and a team of conspirators will profit.  They will be doing damage to the protocol for fighting the pandemic and worse the image of the country.   

Scientific protocols of the more sophisticated countries, with different Covid test results, will not deter these officials. They will be mocking the very scientific standards set up by laboratories from which we beg for the Covid test kits and vaccines to use in Ghana.  They will profit while the reputation of the nation will suffer. 

The alarm raised by the few experiences of arrivals so far must raise concerns.  It is only the government that can put this alternating “false-positive” scheme to rest.  

Ghana’s hospitality for all must mean something more than the “Akwaba” sign at the terminal.  Until then, there will be justifiable doubts about the country among many on arrival if the government continues to remain silent on the issue.

E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher www.ghanadot.com, May 02, 2021.

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