There’s no need for parliamentary ratification of Ghana-US deportation MoU – Mahama Ayariga tells NPP minority Caucus
There’s no need for parliamentary ratification of Ghana-US deportation MoU - Mahama Ayariga tells NPP minority Caucus
Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for Bawku Central constituency in the Upper East Region of Ghana, Mr. Mahama Ayariga, says there is no need for parliamentary ratification of the Ghana-US deportation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Mr. Ayariga’s comment comes on the heels of claims by the Minority Caucus in Parliament that the MoU between Ghana and the United States on the deportation of some West African nationals should have been ratified by Parliament.
The Minority in Parliament had earlier raised constitutional concerns over the MoU, arguing that any agreement involving Ghana’s foreign relations should be brought before Parliament for ratification.
Speaking in Parliament, the Majority leader maintained that the agreement did not require parliamentary approval, insisting that the government had acted within the confines of the law based on sound legal advice.
“The issue of the need for parliamentary ratification of the agreement with the United States to receive ECOWAS citizens being repatriated back to the sub-region has been widely debated. If the appropriate legal advice to this house is that we should ratify it, we will consider so,” he stated.
The Bawku Central lawmaker, however, emphasised that the government’s decision to go ahead with the arrangement was in Ghana’s best interest, adding that it had led to the lifting of visa restrictions previously imposed by the United States.
“I can say with authority that the Majority approves of the arrangement and highly commends the government for negotiating the removal of the US visa restrictions on Ghanaians.
Given our business and social ties to America, these restrictions were going to be extremely burdensome to many Ghanaian businesses and families,” the Bawku Central MP reiterated.
The deportation MoU, signed earlier this year, forms part of a broader diplomatic arrangement aimed at facilitating the return of undocumented West African migrants in the United States to their home countries.
Meanwhile, Democracy Hub, a civil society group, has since filed a suit at Ghana’s apex court, the Supreme Court, seeking clarification on the legality of the agreement.
