Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has revealed that the call to evacuate Ghanaian citizens from Ukraine will come at a cost to the country.
According to him, the process of evacuating Ghanaians will also affect the resources of the country. Mr Afenyo-Markin explained that it is important for government to evacuate its citizens as no other country would do that for us.
Following this, he urged the Minority in Parliament to support the passage of the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy) to ensure government has the needed resources to run the affairs of the country, including the evacuation of Ghanaians stranded in Ukraine.
“The call to evacuate Ghanaian citizens from Ukraine will come at a cost. No European country will evacuate our citizens for us. America will not do that. There is going to be pressure on the limited resources that we have… Of course, Honorable Minority Leader…. if you are talking about E-levy, this is the more important reason why we even need it; that we should congregate around it and find a way of generating revenue as a country to save the situation because we are not in normal times”.
Alexander Afenyo-Markin
His statement followed comments made by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, who invoked Order 72 of the Standing Orders to raise a matter of urgent public importance on the evacuation of Ghanaian students in Ukraine.
Minority requests funds to evacuate Ghanaians
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, requested the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to make available funds for the Foreign Affairs Minister to expedite the evacuation of Ghanaian students in Ukraine. According to him, the evacuation is crucial and a matter of importance due to the current situation and tension in Ukraine.
“We do know the number of Ghanaian students in Ukraine. Quite a number studying medicine, probably some even sponsored by Members of Parliament. The situation in Ukraine is very worrying given the situation of a near hot war in Ukraine and Russia not yielding to the diplomatic manoeuvres of the West, particularly that [was] led by the French President Macron and many others”.
Haruna Iddrisu
To resolve the issue, Mr Iddrisu called on the Interior and Foreign Affairs Ministry to urgently take steps to “assure the students and their parents that they are Ghanaians and they deserve our support”.
Meanwhile, an International Relations Analyst, Professor Vladimir Antwi Danso, has urged the government to collaborate with countries evacuating their people from Ukraine to assist Ghanaian students to move out of Ukraine.
Reacting to an appeal by Ghanaian students in Ukraine for government to evacuate them from the Ukraine-Russia region, following reports of tensions and violent clashes, he intimated that “the air space is closed” and as such government must put in the necessary effort to ensure the evacuation of Ghanaians.
“What do you do? …All we can do is to liaise with other countries who would be evacuating their nationals to see if they can evacuate ours for us”.
Professor Vladimir Antwi Danso
Prior to this, government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, February 24, 2022, expressed concern about the security and safety of Ghanaians living in Ukraine following reports of tensions and violent clashes. The Ministry noted that in the interim over 1,000 students and other Ghanaians have been asked to seek help at government places of shelter. This, the ministry explained, is to ensure their safety temporarily as government “engages the authorities, our relevant diplomatic missions and our honorary consul on further measures”.
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