Speaker rejects accusation of visa fraud by UK’s High Commission

Speaker of Parliament has accused the United Kingdom’s High Commission in Ghana and its former head of mission, Jon Benjamin, of a smear campaign against the institution of Parliament in a visa fraud allegation.

Addressing news editors on Thursday, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye said the House neither accepts the findings nor the tag of visa fraud.

Describing it as extreme he added that“if it happened that it was a Member of Parliament who wrote a letter of support for that person, it does not mean you must stigmatise Parliament.

“The tag visa fraud is the nomenclature of Jon Benjamin, I tell you, I will not accept it. I repudiate that parliamentary association beyond degree,” he charged.

The British High Commission in 2017 cited three MPs for allegedly perpetrating visa fraud using their diplomatic passports.

The  Members of Parliament were Richard Acheampong of Bia East Constituency and Joseph Benhazin Dahah of Asutifi North Constituency.

The other two were Johnson Kwaku Adu of Ahafo Ano South Constituency and George Boakye of Asunafo South Constituency.

These MPs were alleged to have used unauthorised persons and their diplomatic passports to apply for visas for persons who travelled to the United Kingdom and did not return as stipulated by their visas.

Source: Ghana | Myjoyonline.com