Parliament has, by a resolution, approved a Visa Waiver Agreement with government of Ghana and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in respect of diplomatic, service/special and ordinary passport holders on Thursday.

This follows the adoption of the Foreign Affairs Committee Report on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the government, represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and the UAE on mutual exemption of entry visa requirements in respect of diplomatic, service/special and ordinary passport holders.

The MOU is restricted to holders of diplomatic and other official passports, which categories are noted to be easy to manage given the fact that their holders are often public officials whose background and conducts are within the purview of the public and state security apparatus.

The Agreement was executed on 18th November 2019 with the object of waiving the visa requirements for these particular passport holders in Ghana and the UAE before entering into each other’s territories where they can stay for a period not exceeding ninety days.

The Memorandum of Understanding on the exemption of visa requirements between the two countries was presented to the House on 26th May this year by the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchway.

The Speaker Alban Sumana K. Bagbin subsequently referred the Agreement to the Committee on Foreign Affairs for consideration and report by Order 140(4) and 183 of the Standing Orders of the House.

Presenting its report on the floor of the House, Chairman of the Committee Bryan Acheampong indicated that Ghana has had fruitful co-operation with the UAE and is desirous of deepening this relation and facilitate improved interactions between Ghanaian citizens and officials and those of the United Arab Emirates.

He pointed out that the Agreement which constitutes a comprehensive framework on visa regimes for both countries, accordingly made provisions to cover the diplomatic, service, and ordinary passports for nationals of both countries.

Besides, he added, the Agreement did not impose obligations on the two parties to admit people who are considered to be of questionable character into their territories, neither did it impose any financial obligation on the two parties. At the same time, neither country will obtain direct financial gains from their implementation.

It has been fashioned in a way as to create a win-win situation for both parties as they open up their countries to each other, and the resultant relaxed entry requirements are expected to yield tremendous benefits to their citizens through improved relations, trade and bilateral cooperation, he emphasized.

On the issue of justification, the Committee said visa waiver arrangements are common and intended to facilitate the movement of diplomats and government officials between states for official purposes and demonstrative of mutual trust and cooperation between the two counties.

However, the House recommended that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, under the adoption of the MOU, should work hard to ensure that Ghana’s official passport processing system is improved and made devoid of all manipulations.

It further urged the Minister to engage her counterparts from the Emirates to make similar guarantees to facilitate the possible roll-out of the facility to the entire mass of nationals in the UAE to cement the friendly bilateral relations that exist between the two countries.