President John Dramani Mahama says that Ghana has formally joined four other African countries in reaching an agreement with the United States to accept deportees from the country.
Mahama told journalists at his media engagement programme in Accra on Wednesday that 14 deportees, among them Nigerians and one Gambian, had already arrived in Ghana before being transferred to their home countries.
“We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the US and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable because all our fellow West Africans don’t need a visa to come to our country,” he said.
According to local media reports on Thursday, President Mahama did not indicate how many deportees Ghana would ultimately take in and that the agreement places the country alongside Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Eswatini, all of whom have struck similar deals with the US in recent months.
The reports added that the policy comes as US President Donald Trump intensifies his hardline stance on immigration ahead of the November elections, pledging to step up removals of undocumented immigrants and expand the use of so-called “third country” deportations.
Ghana’s decision, the reports noted, coincides with recent trade and visa restrictions imposed by Washington. Tariffs on Ghanaian goods have been raised from 10 to 15 per cent, while Ghanaian travellers to the US are now limited to single-entry visas valid for just three months.
Despite criticism from some quarters, President Mahama defended the arrangement, insisting that it was consistent with Ghana’s open-border policy for West Africans.
“We have survived without borrowing. We shouldn’t be in a hurry to go back to the capital market. It is all about fiscal discipline,” he said, stressing that the priority remained on protecting national interests while honouring international obligations.
GIK/APA