Nana Asante Bediatuo denies allegations of advising Canadian embassy on visa issuance reduction in Ghana

Nana Asante Bediatuo, the Executive Secretary to President Akufo-Addo, has vehemently refuted recent online reports suggesting that he advised the Canadian Embassy to reduce the issuance rate of visas to Ghanaians.

Lawyers representing Bediatuo issued a statement on May 21, categorically denying the allegations and urging the public to disregard such claims.

The statement, issued by Bediatuo’s legal representatives, specifically addressed articles published on websites such as amnewsworld.com and thinknewsonline.com. These articles alleged that Bediatuo had advised the Canadian Embassy to limit visa issuance to Ghanaians, citing concerns about Ghana losing its young workforce to other countries.

Bediatuo’s legal team described these reports as false and urged the public to treat them with contempt. They emphasized that their client had not engaged in any such activities and that the allegations were baseless.

Below is the full statement.

We act as Solicitors for Nana Bediatuo Asante, the Secretary to the President and write pursuant to his instructions.

Our Client’s attention has been drawn to a false online publication under the headline “Asante Bediatuo Advises Canadian Embassy to Reduce Visa Issuance Rate to Ghanaians” published on amnewsworld.com by Ohene Anochie dated Thursday, 16th May, 2024.

The said publication alleged that our Client; “has secretly advised the Canadian Embassy in Ghana to reduce the rate at which it issues visas to Ghanaian nationals. Bediatuo reportedly made the announcement at a secret meeting with H.E Christopher Thornley claiming Ghana is losing a lot of young vibrant workforce to other countries.”

The same false story has been re-published by Joshua Kwabena Smith on thinknewsonline.com

We are instructed to inform the public that the publication referred to supra is palpably false and same should be disregarded and treated with the contempt it deserves.