Member of Parliament for Twifo Atti Morkwa, David Vondee, has addressed public concerns over the recent reports of deportees arriving in Ghana from the United States, insisting that the situation has been widely misunderstood.
The MP explained that while some of the deportees are indeed Ghanaians, others are foreign nationals temporarily hosted in Ghana as part of international arrangements.
“Some of the deportees are Ghanaians,” Vondee stated. “It is important that they are brought here so that we can ascertain the situation and put everything into proper context,” he said on the Kokrokoo morning show on Peace FM as monitred by MyNewsGh.
His comments came after senior journalist Kwesi Pratt expressed worry over reports that some deportees had suffered human rights violations and severe trauma. Pratt argued that such individuals, especially non-Ghanaians, “don’t need to be here.”
In response, Vondee maintained that Ghana has a responsibility to temporarily accommodate all arrivals until proper assessments are made.
“Ghana has to receive them and assess their conditions,” he emphasized. “The non-Ghanaians are only going to be hosted for some time before they are transferred to their various countries.”
However, Director-General of the National Lottery Authority, Sammy Awuku, who was also on the panel, questioned the arrangement.
“If that is the case, why doesn’t the government allow the U.S. to deport them straight to their countries instead of bringing them to Ghana?” Awuku asked.
Vondee responded that he was not privy to the specific details of Ghana’s agreement with the U.S. government on the matter.
“I have no facts about the arrangement Ghana made with the U.S.,” he admitted, prompting Awuku to suggest that “the best way government could have handled the issue is to take it to Parliament.”
