Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Allison Hooker, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Source: Africa Publicity
Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has clarified that the decision by the Trump administration to reverse its visa restrictions on Ghana is not a condition for the country to accept criminals from the US. According to him, “Ghana is not accepting criminals from the US.”
He made this known in a post on Facebook in reaction to what he termed as conspiracy theories surrounding the reversal of the visa restrictions.
He says “Since Ghana became the only country under US visa restrictions to secure a reversal from the Trump Administration, an avalanche of conspiracy theories have been making the rounds.”
Ablakwa noted that “May I respectfully ask that you ignore the conspiracy theorists and scaremongers.”
The Foreign Minister said “We offer the following full assurances to Ghanaians:
1) Ghana will not be a dumping ground for US removals;
2) Ghana is not accepting criminals from the US;
3) The understanding with the US government to accept a very limited number of pre-vetted West African nationals without criminal backgrounds is consistent with our ECOWAS protocols and Pan-African credentials. It should be noted that regardless of this arrangement, West African nationals are allowed to enter Ghana without visas;
4) Our mutually beneficial deal with the US government will not undermine Ghana’s security and stability in anyway;
5) Claims that our ongoing negotiations with the US focuses solely on receiving US removals are false. The negotiations I am leading on President Mahama’s instruction includes a strong case for a reassessment of the 15% tariff imposed on Ghana, additionally we are negotiating a special Ghana-US trade deal, engaging on specific requests from US companies and holding fruitful talks on the future of AGOA which is of immense importance to Ghanaian garment companies.”
According to him, the President Mahama administration “deeply cares for you — we shall keep working tirelessly to protect our strategic national interest, and we shall ensure our best efforts benefit all Ghanaians.”
During his maiden media encounter from the Jubilee House in Accra on September 15, 2025, President Mahama confirmed that some 14 West African nationals including Nigerians and one Gambian were deported from the US to Ghana, saying Ghana chose to receive West African nationals because per ECOWAS protocol on movement of persons, they do not need visas to visit Ghana.
