By Joyce Danso
Accra, Feb. 21, GNA – The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has been ordered to pay GHC960,000 in damages and cost to a Ghanaian resident in Germany.
This was after an Accra High Court entered judgement in favour of Mr Kwabena Baffour Asare, the plaintiff.
The plaintiff was prevented by the GIS from returning to Germany to commence work after burying his mother in Ghana in 2022.
He was mistakenly detained by GIS officials as one “Kwabena Asare” who the Ghana Police had declared wanted for a crime-related offence in Ghana.
Billed to travel to Germany on June 18, 2022, GIS officials prevented the plaintiff from travelling.
Later he was transferred to the custody of the Ghana Police Service at Adenta in Accra.
However, police investigations revealed that he was not the one declared wanted, and so he was released.
Although the plaintiff obtained an extract from the police and on his second attempt to fly to Germany, he was stopped again.
GIS officials finally allowed him to go through departure formalities on June 20, 2022, by which time the plaintiff had lost his job.
He hauled the GIS to court (General Jurisdiction Court 12) for breaching his fundamental rights and for acting unlawfully and unfairly.
Joined to the suit was the Attorney General.
The trial judge, Justice Ayitey Armah-Tetteh, held that although the plaintiff had presented police clearance to GIS officials for the second time, the extract was not honoured.
The court held that the plaintiff’s right to movement had indeed been violated and curtailed and the GIS was liable to compensate him for the restrictions imposed.
The GIS, in its defence, said the Ghana Police Service failed to attach the supposed wanted person’s picture.
It explained that the plaintiff was identified as 94 per cent similar match to the one wanted, who was also known as Baffour Asare.
GIS denied that officials were negligent and that on June 20, 2022, after receiving information clearing the plaintiff, they gave him clearance to travel to Germany.
The plaintiff, Kwabena Baffour Asare, is a Ghanaian resident in Berlin, Germany.
His case was that he came to Ghana in May 2022 to organise his mother’s funeral and decided to return on June 17, 2022.
When he got to the Kotoka International Airport and had gone through all pre-boarding procedures and was preparing to board his flight, he was prevented by the GIS officials for being on their “Wanted Persons List.
According to the plaintiff he was detained and in the early hours of June 18, 2022, handed over to Adentan Police where his statement was taken.
Plaintiff said the police subsequently released him after it was detected that he was not the wanted person.
In the evening of June 18, 2022, while going through departure formalities he was stopped for the second time for the same reasons.
It was on June 20, 2022 that the plaintiff was allowed to travel.
He said he considered the GIS officials acted “negligently, unlawfully, and unfairly” and that his rights had been abused.
He, therefore, proceeded to court to seek redress.
GNA