Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ranking Member on Foreign Affairs has called for international publicity to highlight the “Right of Abode” law, which offer Africans in the Diaspora the chance to have residence in Ghana.
According to him, all Ghanaian Diplomatic missions abroad should be tasked to lead the charge.
Mr Ablakwa made the call when he presented a statement on the floor of Parliament on the need for government to promote the Right of Abode provisions as specified under the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573) to reconnect with Africans in the Diaspora whose roots remained in Africa.
He said the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Arts and Culture should be requested by the President to draw up concrete programmes towards the full realisation of the objective.
He said Parliament should be updated regularly on how many persons of African descent in the Diaspora have been granted the Right of Abode status.
“Mr Speaker, I believe that as our President is projecting a Ghana Beyond Aid, a campaign that thoroughly promotes Ghana’s Right of Abode legislation, it is most timely in attracting many successful persons of African descent in the Diaspora to look to Ghana as their true home where they can invest, exchange ideas and create successful partnerships”
Mr Ablakwa also stated that the Right of Abode law should be seen as bold and commendable Pan African approach towards reuniting Africa beyond a rather narrow continental unity.
He said the threat to the full realisation of the Right of Abode legislation was lack of awareness and lack of conscious deliberate effort to utilise the law to re-link with Diaspora Africans.
“Speaker, I do hope that as politicians, this statement will change our outlook towards the Diaspora…There is a lot more we can achieve for the collective good of the African people across continents” he added.
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