We’ve No Agenda Against Indian Businessman – Comptroller-General

The Comptroller-General of the Ghana Immigration Service, Kwame Asuah Takyi has rejected accusations that he is conniving with the Interior Minister Ambrose Dery, to frustrate an Indian businessman.

The businessman, Ashok Sivaram, petitioned the President claiming the two schemed to illegally deport him, to pave the way for his business partner to take over his company.

He also accused the Comptroller-General of refusing to comply with a High Court order to regularize his stay in the country.

But speaking to Citi News, Mr. Asuah Takyi described the allegations from Ashok Sivaram as shocking and misleading, saying the Minister had no stake in any possible deportation.

“He has misled the public. He has thrown dust into the eyes of the public. We wrote to him because he was not picking calls and if we had not written this letter to him, he would have said he did not receive any call.”

“What would the Minister of Interior, honorable Ambrose Dery, gain by interfering in the business of a foreign expatriate… why should he?”

The Interior Minister and the Comptroller-General were said to have approved the deportation of Ashok Sivaram on grounds that he obtained a fake marriage certificate to enable his stay in Ghana.

Ashok Sivaram, who had lived in the Ghana for close to a decade, refuted the claims.

The matter was resolved with legal action when the Accra High Court on July 31, 2017, quashed the deportation of Ashok Sivaram.

According to the court, the Interior Minister exceeded his jurisdiction by determining fraud against the Ashok without recourse to the court.

The court also indicated that the Interior Minister breached the rule of natural justice by not giving the plaintiff a hearing after he had accused him of allegedly committing fraud.