How the three South Africans were deported
The three retired South African police officers who were arrested for allegedly engaging in activities with national security implications have been deported.
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They were put on board a South African Airways flight number 210 which departed the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) around 9:26 a.m. for Johannesburg.
Their entry visas were revoked by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).
Officials from the GIS and security detail from the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) escorted the three to the aircraft.
According to security sources, South African officials would meet the three on arrival in Johannesburg.
The three — Major Ahmed Shaik Hazis (retd), 54; Warrant Officer Denver Dwayhe, 33, and Captain Mlungiseli Jokani, 45 — were arrested at the EL-Capitano Hotel where they had been based since arriving in Ghana.
They were said to be training 15 young men in various security drills, including unarmed combat, weapon handling, VIP protection techniques and rapid response exercises. for the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Section 36 (1) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573) reads: “The minister may, by executive instrument, order the deportation of a person liable to deportation.
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“(2) The order may be made subject to the conditions imposed by the minister.
“(3) A deportation order may include the dependants of the person to be deported if the minister so directs.”
Section 37 (1) of Act 573 states: “(1) A person to be deported shall leave Ghana in accordance with the requirements of the deportation order and shall, so long as the deportation order is in force, remain out of Ghana.”
With respect to the three, security sources said they had been “restricted” from entering the country but they declined to give further details about what “restricted entry” entailed.
Embarrassing
But one of the lawyers for the retired police officers, Mr Atta Akyea, has described the deportation as “most embarrassing” to Ghana’s security set up.
Condemning the act, he said: “This is most embarrassing to our security set up because if it had confidence in the charges, it should have prosecuted the three and not let them off the hook.”
Granting an interview to the Daily Graphic in reaction to the deportation, Mr Atta Akyea said the deportation of the three was indicative of the fact that their arrest was a “whole melodrama”.
According to counsel, the charges levelled against them were without substance.
“It was to feed the NDC’s propaganda that the NPP is doing something untoward,” he noted.
He said their deportation would not stop his legal team from filing contempt charges against officials of the BNI.
“The refusal of officials of the BNI to release the three after the court had granted them bail amounted to disregard for the court’s authority, which must not go unpunished,” he added.
Bail
The three were granted bail on March 24, 2016 but officials of the BNI whisked them away, amidst protest from their lawyers, who viewed the act as an abuse of the rights of the accused persons.
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They were each granted a GH¢20,000 bail with one surety when they were arraigned before the Accra Circuit Court.
Lawyers of the accused persons raised legal issues with their continued incarceration and indicated their intent to file the necessary legal papers in court to secure their release.
GIS findings
In a related development, the GIS in a statement, stated that the three suspects in their written statements, said they were engaged by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to travel to the country and conduct training for 15 bodyguards of the party in VIP security drills, the GIS said.
The statement, signed by the Director of GIS, Mr Felix Yaw Sarpong said Hazis, who was identified by the other two as their leader, wrote in his statement: “ I was engaged to provide VIP protection training to the protection security officers of the leader of the opposition party in Ghana, the NPP. This was my reason for being in Ghana”.
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It said the GIS’s findings revealed that the above written statement did not conform with the purpose of their invitation, which was to “travel to Accra for a series of business meetings” which they indicated on their application for visa to the Ghana Mission in Pretoria, South Africa.
It said the two organisations, McDan Shipping Ltd, and the Danquah Institute, which extended the invitation to the South Africans were not known to be registered as security companies.
“The series of meetings indicated in the invitation letters, on the strength of which the visas were issued, were to be held in Accra with the two organisations,” the GIS said.
“On the face of the documentation examined, it was clear that the three individuals were not sure of who actually invited them.
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“The NPP as a legal entity did not invite the three South Africans to Ghana and there is no documentation to contradict this fact… these institutions are not security organisations.”
Training exercise
“Additionally, it is the view of the GIS that the training exercise conducted by the three at the El Capitano Hotel in the Central Region to a group that did not invite them, is clearly a confirmation of the attempt to conceal the motive for their visit and was therefore a breach of Section 52(1) (e) and (i) of the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573).
“Their act is also a breach of the conditions precedent for the issuance of visas as contained in the instructions on Form B (Reg.3 (4) of the Immigration Regulation 2001 (LI 1691)”.
Detention
The statement said the GIS on March 23, 2016 requested for the release of the three to the Service for the determination of their immigration status in the country, it said.
“The suspects indicated in their written statements that they were invited by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to train its security personnel,” the statement said.
“The GIS proceeded to review their Visa Application process to confirm the veracity of their claims and reconcile their current status and activities.
“In the process to ascertain these facts the forms they submitted to our Mission in Pretoria, South Africa and the disembarkation cards filled by them upon their arrival at KIA were vetted."
The three arrived variously in the country on March 5 and March 14, respectively, the statement said.
Facts
Brief facts presented in court stated that the accused persons were retired South African police officers and that between January and March 2016, they applied for visa at the Ghana High Commission in South Africa on the pretext of doing business in Ghana.
It said based on the information given to the High Commissioner, the accused persons were granted their visas and they arrived in Ghana in March 2016.
According to the facts, a few days ago, information reached the security agencies that some people were training five persons in military tactics at Agona Duakwa.
They were arrested and, during investigation, the accused persons stated that they were brought into the country from South Africa by Captain Edmund Kojo Koda (retd) and Captain Kwesi Acquah (retd) to train NPP security personnel towards the 2016 general election in Ghana.
Further investigations at GIS revealed that the accused persons filled disembarkation forms indicating they were in Ghana to do business.