Ghana-South Africa relations intact - Hanna Tetteh

efua

April 2, 2016 6:51 AM

“There’s no diplomatic row with South Africa, it’s a figment of anyone’s imagination,” the Minister said.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hanna Tetteh has denied claims that the Ghana-South Africa relationship has been affected by the arrest and deportation of three South African nationals from Ghana.

The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) arrested three ex-Police officers from South Africa who had been invited into the country to train the private security of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The leadership of the NPP stated that security training was to enable the NPP private security personnel to effectively protect the party’s flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, his running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, as well as their spouses.

But the Deputy Communications Minister, Felix Kwakye Ofosu claimed that one of the arrested South African national "frequents Iraq and that is history that you cannot discount… The BNI did no wrong in swooping in to undertake the exercise to find out exactly what was happening.”

The three were detained, charged and later deported back to South Africa under the supervision of the BNI and the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).

Their entry visas have also been revoked by the GIS.

Although many expressed concern that the action undertaken by the BNI could jeopardize relations between Ghana and South Africa, Ms Tetteh during an interaction with members of the ECOWAS Media Network in Accra gave the assurance that “because we have acted within our laws and we have taken a decision that we are fully able to take within our laws.”

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