US warns of visa restrictions on people who undermine democracy in Ghana

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — The U.S. State Department warned Monday it will restrict U.S. visas to people seen as undermining democracy in Ghana ahead of the West African country’s general elections in December.

Ghana has been holding peaceful, free, fair and transparent elections for almost two decades. Presidential and parliamentary elections will be held simultaneously on December 7. This will be the ninth consecutive general election since the country returned to multi-party democracy in 1992.

But allegations of voter list irregularities this year have raised fears of a possible democratic rollback.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the visa policy announced on Monday would only target people “who undermine democracy” and not the government or people of Ghana.

Last month, Ghana’s largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), held nationwide protests demanding verification of voter listsclaiming to have discovered thousands of unauthorized transfers and erasures of voter names.

Current President Akufo-Addo is stepping down this year after his second and final four-year term. Former President John Dramani Mahama of the NDC, who lost the 2016 and 2020 elections, will face New Patriotic Party Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia in this year’s elections.

Last year, the US State Department announced a similar visa restriction policy in anticipation of General elections in Nigeriarestricting the entry of people “deemed responsible for or involved in undermining democracy in Nigeria.”