Kenyan authorities have deported Peter Mac Manu who was leading a team of election observers from the Democratic Union of Africa (DUA) ahead of tomorrow’s Kenya’s General Elections.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2016 Elections’ Campaign Manager was met on arrival Saturday at the Kotoka Airport by some officials of the NPP.
Sources to the story say the security officials of Kenya refused the NPP man entry into Kenya because he is an Honorary Chairman of DUA, an umbrella body of centre-right parties in Africa, which includes some opposition parties in Kenya.
Mr. Mac Manu was not the only Ghanaian deportee from Kenya; one other unnamed Ghanaian was also reportedly deported by the Kenya security officials, three days to the polls, which are expected to be keenly contested.
A Nairobi radio station, Capital FM, reported that the US Embassy confirmed that two foreign nationals working for the opposition had been deported from Kenya.
According to Joy News, Accra, the US Embassy, in a tweet, announced that an American and a Canadian had been detained Friday, albeit the tweet added, “They’re safe & departing Kenya.”
Still on Joy News, John Boadu, acting General Secretary of the NPP, described the deportation of his party’s 2016 Election Campaign Manager as very unfortunate.
He explained that Mr. Mac Manu was going to Kenya on the invitation of DUA, adding that Mr. Mac Manu’s mission in the East African country was legal.
However on Citi News, Dr. Vladimir Antwi Danso, an International Relations Analyst, said that Kenya simply exercised its sovereign rights by refusing Peter Mac Manu entry into the country.
He said: “They [Kenya] invite who they want and disallow who they don’t want. It’s a bonafide right… It is an accepted norm in diplomacy. You look at the thing and think it will disturb your security, your political structure so you don’t want it… He is a persona non-grata so I won’t allow him entry. Period… I cannot say they did right or didn’t do right.”
Dr. Antwi Danso, by these, believes no one should attempt subjecting Kenya’s actions to a legitimacy test and said in case Ghana is unhappy about Mr. Mac Manu being denied entry into the East African country, it [Ghana] is at liberty to retaliate “and if the retaliation comes to the worst, break off diplomatic relations.”
“This should be seen in the context of an operation that they were carrying yesterday. Not just in this national centre but everywhere They were removed from the plane, they did not formally disembark from the plane, they were taken away by the Police and pushed into another plane back to Ghana.
The deportations and denials of entry came as the opposition claimed police had late Friday raided a party tally centre in Westlands where a parallel vote count was due to be conducted.
Meanwhile, former President John Mahama is leading a 15-member delegation from the Commonwealth nations to monitor the upcoming polls, which over the years, have been plagued with violence.
Kenyan authorities have deported Peter Mac Manu who was leading a team of election observers from the Democratic Union of Africa (DUA) ahead of tomorrow’s Kenya’s General Elections. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2016 Elections’ Campaign Manager was met on arrival Saturday at the Kotoka Airport by some officials of the NPP. Sources […] Read Full Story
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