The Ghana Immigration Service is on a manhunt for eight Ghanaians who assisted 52 foreign nationals to acquire Ghanaian passports by false declaration.
This comes after the repatriation of the foreign nationals who acquired genuine documents such as birth certificates, Ghana Cards, and Voter Identification cards with the assistance of Ghanaians.
The said documents were presented to the Immigration Service as proof of citizenship for the acquisition of Ghanaian passports.
A member of the Ghana Immigration Service Legal Team, Chief Superintendent Adolf Aboagye- Asenso spoke to Citi News about the development.
“They declared themselves as Ghanaians and were able to outwit the officials. If you interrogate almost all of them, there is a Ghanaian behind, especially those who run the café. The Ghanaians who assist them are mostly those who run the café and others who take them to the café to represent them as relatives. So when they are arrested, the Ghanaians are not there, so we find it very difficult to get them. So their crime is about aiding and abetting.”
The non-Ghanaians would be deported after appropriate sanctions according to Ghana’s immigration laws.
The GIS over time caution non-Ghanaians to desist from obtaining Ghanaian Passport, Birth Certificates, and any other identity document of the country by false declaration while urging all foreign nationals in the country to be law-abiding.
It is an offence, punishable by the laws of the country, to indulge in such immigration-related offences.