The High Commission accused George Boakye and three other sitting MPs of engaging in various forms of visa related fraud.

Mr Boakye who felt he was being wrongfully accused subsequently wrote to the Commission demanding proof of his culpability.

[contextly_sidebar id=”dl2uTzc92cO0KZOPKXou9Khe1HQU9rLb”]He has received two separate responses from the High Commission but according to him, there was still no proof of his involvement in any fraud.

Mr. Boakye explained to Citi News that the commission has not been also able to prove that he used a diplomatic passport during the visa application process.

“I wrote to them and made them aware that I never used any diplomatic passport; I even sent them a copy of my passport to them. So they wrote back and told me that they never said that I used diplomatic passport and that they’ve not banned me for ten years. Then my lawyer wrote to them again asking them to show where in the visa application process we acted fraudulently and that was the reply we were expecting from them.”

“We got the reply on Tuesday and they didn’t even say anything about it and neither did they say that they’ve rejected our application… I just wanted them to show my where I acted fraudulently and the reply I had from them on Tuesday didn’t even touch and that issue. That was the most important thing. That is what I wanted to know from them,” he added.

Mr. Boakye’s alleged crime by UK High Commission

The British High Commissioner, Jon Benjamin earlier wrote a letter to the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye about the four MPs who he said had been ban for ten years from the UK for allegedly engaging in visa fraud.

In the case of Mr. Boakye, the High Commissioner said: “On 11/09/2012, the then Honourable and now former MP for Asunafo South George BOAKYE applied for visas for himself and his 37-year old daughter, Joyce BOAKYE to visit a friend in London for 17 days.

“The visas were granted on 14/09/2012. On 17/01/2013 Joyce BOAKYE travelled to the UK with her Honourable father. Joyce BOAKYE did not leave the UK with her father, but remained until 06/01/2017,” the statement added.

My daughter tricked me and overstayed
George Boakye had earlier lamented that his 37-year-old daughter tricked him into taking her to London under the pretext of going to see her uncle, but disappeared on their arrival in the UK.

According to him, although he knew he was being irresponsible by not reporting his daughter’s disappearance once he couldn’t find her, but he feared a report to security officials would have her incarcerated.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey & Felicia Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Visa fraud: UK Commission couldn’t prove I acted fraudulently – MP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the diplomat deliberately leaked a letter he sent to the Speaker of Parliament informing him of the UK’s decision to slap a travel ban on 4 parliamentarians, including a former member for allegedly engaging in various forms of illegal immigration practice.

“What is the import of putting this in the public domain if indeed Jon Benjamin respects our country as a sovereign nation? Who else could have done it? Work was being done to remedy this situation. We [Parliament] have the mechanisms and processes of correcting whatever wrong and investigating whatever accusations would have come against us. And I can guarantee you that, I will find it very difficult to suspect anyone of us [MPs].”

“You know he [Jon Benjamin] has the knack to be involved in any aspect of national discourse in Ghana… Simply put, he is a media whore. He wants the limelight. His time is due and I think this is the last thing that he wants to do and quite clearly he could not have found any other entity to malign than the august house of Parliament,” he said.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Friday, Clement Apaak, who is also the MP for Builsa South Constituency, said the allegations by the High Commission against the legislators cannot be held as sacrosanct and therefore must be independently investigated by Parliament itself.

“Just because the British High Commissioner has leveled an allegation against 3 sitting Members of Parliament and one former Member of Parliament does not mean his allegation is sacrosanct. Of course he is a diplomat, he has a role to play and he also represents a country, but we are also a sovereign nation… This has come up, those who have been accused have refuted in their own commentaries one way or the other that the allegations leveled against them and the punishment meted out to them certainly is not justified,” he noted.

He further revealed that, the Speaker of Parliament has attached importance to the issue and is determined to look into it to unravel the truth.

According to him, the Speaker while addressing first-time MPs of the new Parliament in January this year, said he was ready to investigate it, and thus cautioned the new MPs to conduct themselves in a manner that would not bring the name of the house into disrepute.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifimonline.com/Ghana

The post Jon Benjamin is a “media whore” – Apaak appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.