Ghanaians living in the UK said they were disenfranchised in the just-concluded presidential and parliamentary elections in their country?as they could not vote and perform their civic responsibility.??
Mr Kwame Adu, the President of the Ghana Union in the UK, told?the Western Europe Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in London on Sunday that?the estimated 500,000?Ghanaians in the UK were deprived of the opportunity to vote.
He said that the Union had appealed to the government to include Ghanaians living in the UK in the voting but it did not make any provisions for that.
The incumbent President John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress, contested for the presidency alongside seven others.??
Mahama came to office in July, following the death of?Dr John Atta-Mills, who was elected President ?in 2008. ?
The union president said: “All the Ghanaians here in the UK have been disenfranchised and that is something we do not like at all.
“The question of diaspora voting was solved during Jerry Rawling’s tenure when it was decided that those in the diaspora would be allowed to vote.
“Even though a law has been passed to that effect, the governments of John Kuffour, John Atta-Mills and now President John Mahama, have all claimed that there is no money for that.’’
Adu said that the diaspora community in the UK had been contributing ?to the soio-economic development of Ghana.
“Two years ago, Ghanaians living outside the country sent over four million pounds to Ghana, and to disenfranchise us is a thing no Ghanaians here will be pleased with.’’
He urged the new government in Ghana to look into the issue of diaspora voting in order to avoid future occurrence “of ?violation of the peoples’ civic rights.’’
The Ghana Union boss, who expressed concern over the plight of Ghanaians abroad said “we are sometimes not apply with our government because they do not care about our plight.’’
He also urged the John Mahama government to be proactive in keeping its campaign promises, saying “we look forward to a government that will provide basic amenities, water, electricity and health care to the whole of Ghanaians’.
“We want a government that will be responsible to all ?the communities in Ghana and not to a particular community, a government that will not turn state revenue to its personal accounts, these are what Ghanaians hope for.’’
The Ghana Union is the umbrella body of the over 180??Ghanaian associations in the UK. (NAN)