Former MP threatens to sue UK High Commission over visa fraud claim

Jon Benjamin is the UK High Commissioner to Ghana[/caption] Former Member of Parliament for Asunafo South constituency, George Boakye, who has been cited in a visa fraud case, has threatened legal action against the British High Commission in Accra should the Commission fail to reverse a travel ban imposed on him. The High Commission in a letter to the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament announced four legislators, including Mr Boakye, have been banned from entering the UK because they abused the privileges of their diplomatic passport. According to the High Commission, they used their diplomatic privileges to help their supposed relatives to secure visas to the UK and they eventually overstayed their visas. But Mr Boakye in a letter issued by his lawyers, denied the claim by the Commission that he abused his diplomatic privileges, noting he never applied for a visa with his diplomatic passport in the period in question as claimed by the High Commission. [caption id="attachment_49963" align="aligncenter" width="564"] Mr George Boakye has denied abusing his diplomatic privileges[/caption] “In respect of the period in question, my client travelled to the UK with a normal Ghanaian Passport with passport number H1050729 and not a diplomatic passport. My client was granted a two years UK visa from 14/9/12 to 14/9/14 with visa number 011164422,” the letter stated. Though the former MP admitted that the he travelled with his 37-year-old daughter on that private visit and returned as scheduled, he cannot be blamed for his daughter’s failure to return as scheduled because she was an adult. “My client cannot in any way be blamed because his adult daughter overstayed her Entry Permit into the U.K. “We will also strongly want to bring to your attention that my client applied for a visa and the daughter Joyce Boakye also applied for her own separate visa. The visa applications were independent of each other just that my client indicated that he will be travelling with his daughter who is an adult,” he explained in the letter. The former MP said in the interest of justice and fairness, he expected the High Commission to have” put out the true story and not the allegations”. He said he has “not engaged in any form of visa fraud” and that all documents presented were genuine. For him, he has “not abused the privileges and responsibilities as a Diplomatic Passport Holder”. Mr Boakye is consequently demanding that the High Commission reverses the travel ban imposed on him or face legal action. He also wants the High Commission to come again with the true facts of the case. “We are expecting that based on the information we have provided we expect your high office to reverse any travel ban imposed on my client and also come to the public domain to clear the issues. Your failure to do so will compel my client to use all legal means to appeal against any decision to impose a travel ban on him to the UK and also clear him name” the letter stated. By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana]]>