U.S. Warns Visa Restrictions Ahead of Ghana’s Elections.
ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — The U.S. State Department issued a warning on Monday regarding visa restrictions for individuals who undermine Ghana’s democracy. This announcement comes as the country prepares for its general elections in December.
Ghana has conducted peaceful and transparent elections for nearly 20 years. The presidential and parliamentary elections are set to take place on December 7, marking the ninth consecutive election since the nation returned to multi-party democracy in 1992.
However, concerns about potential democratic decline have emerged due to allegations of irregularities in the voter roll this year.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the visa policy would target only those “who undermine democracy,” not the Ghanaian government or its citizens.
Recently, Ghana’s largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), organized nationwide protests calling for an audit of the voter roll. They claimed to have found thousands of unauthorized transfers and deletions of voter names.
Current President Nana Akufo-Addo will step down this year after completing his second and final four-year term. Former President John Dramani Mahama of the NDC, who lost in the elections of 2016 and 2020, will compete against Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party in this year’s race.
Last year, the U.S. State Department implemented a similar visa restriction policy in Nigeria before its general election, targeting individuals believed to be involved in undermining democracy there.
Related topics:
- New Mexico Governor Says Harris Supports ‘Bolder and Bigger’ Immigration Legislation
- Elon Musk: An Illegal Migrant Worker Who Misused His Student Visa
- Farm Communities Divided Over Proposed Immigration Raids
