You Are A Guest In Ghana. Act Like It

The Ambassador of Israel to Ghana, Roey Gilad, has once again overstepped the bounds of diplomatic decency.

To stand on Ghanaian soil, in Accra, and publicly interrogate and lecture the President of the Republic of Ghana on what he should or should not say — and to demand why Ghana condemns the genocide in Palestine but is “silent” on Ukraine — is not diplomacy. It is insolence. It is brass neck of the highest order.

Mr. Gilad seems to forget where he is. Ghana is a sovereign state. Our foreign policy is not dictated from Tel Aviv. It is set in Accra, by the President of Ghana, in line with Article 40 of the 1992 Constitution and our historic non‑aligned tradition dating back to Kwame Nkrumah.

Ghana recognized the State of Palestine long before his country’s actions in Palestine. Ghana supports a two‑state solution. Ghana has every right — and indeed a moral duty — to call a genocide a genocide when “it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck,” as President Mahama told the UNGA.

This is the same Ambassador who, after President Mahama’s UNGA speech, called our President “wrong” on genocide, held a press conference in Accra to “educate” Ghanaians on why Israel’s war is justified, and argued that peace can only be achieved through settler terrorism, criminal annexation of Palestinian lands, and gross disregard for the UN and international law.

Now he wants to drag Ghana into a whataboutism on Russia–Ukraine to deflect from the genocide, war crimes, settler violence, collective punishment, and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank — atrocities the whole world is condemning.

Ghana’s position on Russia–Ukraine is a matter of public record. Ghana voted to condemn Russia’s invasion at the UN. Ghana has consistently called for respect for international law and sovereignty everywhere. The difference is that Ghana does not need to be loud to be principled, and Ghana does not take lectures on selectivity from a government currently on trial for genocide at the ICJ.

This pattern of disrespect is becoming habitual. I call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP, to immediately summon Mr. Roey Gilad and give him a formal dressing‑down.

He must be reminded of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations: an Ambassador is a guest. He may explain his country’s position. He must not publicly chastise, fact‑check, or second‑guess the Head of State of his host country in the media.

If Israel wants a spokesperson to attack the President of Ghana, let them hire one in Israel. While he carries the title of Ambassador to Ghana, he must respect the office of the President of Ghana, respect the people of Ghana, and respect Ghana’s sovereign right to speak on Palestine without being gaslit with Ukraine.

His comments are downright insulting to the President of the Republic and the people of Ghana. Enough of his disrespect toward Ghanaians.

Ras Mubarak
Former MP & Lead Campaigner for a Visa‑Free Africa