Passport Office Assault: NDC Calls For Probe
The rampant discrimination against some tribes at the passport office has become serious national concerns.
The Greater Accra Regional Zongo Caucus Cordinator of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Ismaila Ali Horoya has called for the immediate probe into the assault on a Muslim lady by the officer of the passport office in Tema, Accra some few weeks ago.
The victim, Maryam Sulaiman Najjat went to the passport office in Accra on the 16th February, 2022 to have her passport renewed.
After thorough interrogation by the officer about Maryam’s nationality, the officer concluded Maryam is not a Ghanaian mainly because she could not speak twi language fluently.
Several intervetions by Maryam’s mother and other close family relations to prove to the officer that the applicant is a Ghanaian proved futile.
Maryam became exhausted about the questions and attitude of the officer and decided to leave, but the passport office official, as if that was not enough, physically assaulted the applicant and forcely deep his hands in a brazier to removed her phone in the full glare of public.
In view of this, the Greater Accra Regional NDC Zango Caucus Boss is calling on the authority to investigate the incident as a matter of urgency.
The NDC guru described the act as a well orchestrated plan by the government to subdue other minority tribes specifically those bearing Muslim and ewe names.
Currently, according to him, there have been numerous complaints that the passport officials are discriminatory to certain tribes who go to passport offices in the country for their passports.
He cited that Muslims and Ewes are the main target at the passport offices and in some cases the Gas, since the Nana Akufo-Addo led NPP administration took over from the previous government.
For him, such irresponsible discrimination has the tendency to deepened the on-going divisive rule in the country under this government if the situation is not curtailed immediately since there are so many tribes in Ghana.
“One cannot use only twi to determine the citizenship of a person since that is not the only language spoken in Ghana”, he lamented.
He made the statement during an interview with the thealhajj.com in Accra on Wednesday.