Ablakwa has been dishonest; he used US deportees as bargaining chips — Ishaq Ibrahim

A lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) and member of the NPP Legal Directorate, Ishaq Ibrahim, has accused the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, of being dishonest in Ghana’s arrangement with the United States to accept West African deportees.

According to him, the deal was not based purely on humanitarian grounds, as earlier claimed by the minister, but served as a bargaining tool for other benefits from the US government.

Speaking on Accra-based Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana show on Thursday, October 16, Mr. Ibrahim described the minister’s conduct as unconstitutional and misleading.

“From the onset, the minister had been very dishonest. He made it clear that it was done on purely humanitarian grounds, but that is not true. Later, they admitted it was part of a transaction with America over a separate issue,” he said.

“Tell the truth from the very beginning that you used them as part of a bargain. You have used your fellow African citizens as bargaining chips, and that is wrong under international law,” Mr. Ibrahim added.

Meanwhile, pressure group Democracy Hub has filed a suit at the Supreme Court challenging what it describes as a secret and unconstitutional deportation arrangement between Ghana and the United States government.

The group argues that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which allows Ghana to receive and detain third-country West African nationals deported from the US, was never ratified by Parliament as required by Article 75(2) of the 1992 Constitution.

In the action filed on Monday, October 13, against the Attorney General and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Democracy Hub said the agreement undermines the country's sovereignty and violates international human rights standards.

The group is seeking 28 reliefs, including a declaration that the MoU is unconstitutional, null, and void; an injunction to halt further deportations under the deal; and an order restraining the government from detaining civilians in military facilities.

The Supreme Court has set Wednesday, October 22, for hearing of an interlocutory injunction to suspend implementation of the agreement.