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President John Dramani Mahama has confirmed that Ghana has officially joined a select group of African countries cooperating with the United States to accept deportees.
Speaking at a media engagement in Accra on Wednesday evening, the President announced that Ghana will now be part of a growing list of nations partnering with Washington to manage the removal of foreign nationals.
As part of the arrangement, Ghana has already received 14 deportees — including several Nigerians and one Gambian — who were later transferred to their respective home countries after arrival in Ghana.
President Mahama explained that the agreement followed a request from the US government for Ghana to temporarily receive third-party nationals being deported. He clarified that the arrangement focuses mainly on West African citizens, as they do not require visas to enter Ghana, which simplifies the process.
“We were approached by the US to accept third-party nationals who were being removed, and we agreed that West African nationals were acceptable because they do not need visas to come to our country,” the President said.
While it remains unclear how many deportees Ghana will ultimately take in, the move aligns the country with four others — Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Eswatini — that have already signed similar agreements with Washington. These pacts are designed to ease deportation procedures and support the safe return of individuals to their countries of origin.
In August, Uganda’s foreign ministry announced a comparable deal, noting that only deportees without criminal records or unaccompanied minors would be accepted.
Source: Omanghana.com
