A daughter of the former Member of Parliament for the Asunafo South Constituency who has been banned from entering the UK over alleged visa fraud, has said she should be blamed for her father’s woes.
According to her, she deliberately cut contact ties with her father after she told him she was leaving the house to visit an uncle in the London, ahead of their scheduled departure date.
The daughter, 41-year-old Joyce Boakye, refused to leave the UK and illegally stayed there for more than 3 years, after she had gone there with her father, a former MP for a short visit.
The result of her action has been a 10-year ban placed on her father by the UK, barring him from entering that country for the period.
She told Citi News in an interview that, she was with her boyfriend in London hence her failure to return with her father.
“I went with my father. And I told him I was leaving for town, but I never returned that is why I overstayed. I told him I will return, but I met my boyfriend in town and I departed for his house. I switched off my phone and removed my sim card so that when my father attempts to reach me on phone, he will be unsuccessful. That’s why I didn’t come with my father,” she said.
“I don’t call my father, and I don’t know how he got my number. But I kept calling mum though. There is no network where my mother lives so she to leaves her house before we can talk. As for my dad, he doesn’t have my number so I’m wondering how he got my number to tell me to come home. I intended to return with my boyfriend at his convenience. Excuse me for saying this, but I am old enough to stay away from home,” she told Citi News.
Her father is among 4 current and ex-legislators who have been banned from entering the UK over allegations of visa fraud using their diplomatic passports.
The British High Commissioner, Jon Benjamin in a letter to the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye said the offence of the former MP was that, “On 11/09/2012, the then Honourable and now former MP for Asunafo South George BOAKYE applied for visas for himself and his 37-year old daughter, Joyce BOAKYE to visit a friend in London for 17 days The visas were granted on 14/09/2012. On 17/01/2013 Joyce BOAKYE travelled to the UK with her Honourable father. Joyce BOAKYE did not leave the UK with her father, but remained until 06/01/2017. In other words, she finally returned to Ghana just this month, having been in the UK illegally for over three years, and only then at our strong urging of Mr Boakye to bring her back. Mr Boakye is highly unlikely to be issued any further visas to visit the UK in the next ten years for his role in facilitating his daughter’s travel to the UK, including should he be re-elected to Parliament in a subsequent election.
But Joyce Boakye said she should be held responsible for the incident and is therefore appealing to Ghanaians to forgive her, although her story doesn’t seem to add up.
“I am pleading with my father and Ghanaians to forgive me. When I arrived, my father and I went to see the British High Commissioner and we pleaded with him too.”
UK Visa Fraud: My daughter tricked me and overstayed – Former MP
Meanwhile, her father has admitted acting irresponsibly by not reporting his daughter’s disappearance to security officials to help trace her when he noticed it was difficult finding her.
According to him, he feared that she would be incarcerated if found, hence his decision not to involve UK authorities over her disappearance. In an interview with Citi News, some of the former MP’s claims appeared incoherent.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)