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Ghanaian Citizens Abroad deliver two Petitions to
the Government of Ghana
Ghanaian Citizens Abroad gathered outside the Embassy of
Ghana in Washington, DC on June 16, 2012 to present two
petitions to the Ambassador.
The rally and subsequent march had a
simple theme “Ghanaians abroad are tired of being
treated as second class Citizens”. The event organized
by concern citizens of Ghana drew crowd from across the
US, from as far West as Seattle, WA to Worcester MA and
everywhere in between.
An overwhelming number of Ghanaians in the Diaspora want
to help Ghana in some capacity. Most are met with
intense frustrations by an institutionalized culture of
bribery and trickery. To this Ghanaians Abroad are
saying with one voice “Enough is Enough” and call upon
the government to address matters faced by Citizens
traveling to or doing business in Ghana. More
specifically the issue of Customs Excise Duty as it
relates to Port clearance and ROPA which allow Ghanaians
in the Diaspora to vote in elections.
The tone of the rally was nonpolitical, as Ghanaians
seem to realize there are bigger issues beyond party
affiliations. The rally which was broadcast over a few
Internet Radio Stations (Highlife Radio,Sunlight ,Awaaba
, Obimanso and a couple others) had speaker after
speaker calling for solutions rather than bashing a
political wing. With one voice they called for a
National agenda to seek to foster the interest of Ghana.
Marchers held signs and sang solidarity songs as they
marched in protest. The event was rather very civil as
protestors stayed on the March route, which allowed the
District to deploy minimum police presence.
As the protestors sang and paraded
outside the Embassy in their ever colorful Red Gold
Green colors they held signs. A few of the signs read
“Enough is Enough Port Officials”; “Ghana is for
Ghanaians”; “We want to Vote, EC”; “Where is my Car?”;
“ROPA is our Right not a favor” and “We are tired of
paying bribes at the Ports”. These signs summed up the
bane of the protest in a rather succinct way.
The Ambassador Mr. Daniel Ohene Agyekum ceremoniously
came out to accept signed petitions and addressed the
gathering. Mr. Ohene Agyekum started by thanking the
gathering for their time and effort and presenting the
Government our petitions. He asked for the clarification
in the documents presented to him in order to make sure
he had the correct understanding of the message.
He then delivered a message on behalf of
the government. In his response he said “the documents
presented him will be delivered to the appropriate
office as early as Monday June 18th. He will forward the
response received by his Office to Ghanaians Abroad”.
On the issue of ROPA he said “he was not
in position to give a response since Electoral
Commission is an independent body and makes their own
decision outside of the government”.
He said he would however forward the
petitions as requested. Mr. Ohene Agyekum asked the
gathering to call upon their families in Ghana to pursue
a violence-free election. He took pictures with the
protestors and proceeded back to the Embassy.
By Derek A Koranteng
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