By Nathaniel Nartey.
Ghana and South Africa have expressed strong reservations about what they describe as arbitrary and discriminatory travel restrictions being used as instruments of immigration control on some African countries.
Presidents Akufo-Addo and Cyril Ramaphosa, made the point during a 3-day visit by South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, to Ghana.
This follows the detection of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in South Africa, which quickly led to a travel ban on some southern African nations to the USA and other European countries. President Ramaphosa described the move as travel apartheid and killing economies in the region, while President Akufo Addo called it unfair, especially when the variant was detected much earlier in the Netherlands.
Reacting to this, International Relations Expert, Dr. Rashid Pelpuo, called for the use of diplomacy in resolving such issues, despite admitting that both parties have the right to either impose travel bans to protect their people or complain about such acts.
“The reaction of the world to the new variant is normal but it is also normal for anyone who thinks there is an overreacting to also complain….I think that it will now be left with Diplomacy and that will be the key word. How can diplomacy be used in the complex relations of two opposing ends to fashion out a tolerable level of cooperation between the two countries and I think the winner will be the one who understands diplomacy and how to play it out in the midst of these things,” according to International Relations Expert Dr. Rashid Pelpuo.
