Ghanaian media personality, Lily Mohammed, has slammed the government following reports that American YouTuber and streamer, IShowSpeed would be given a Ghanaian passport during his recent visit to the country.
In a viral video circulating on social media, the GH One presenter questioned the seriousness of the state and expressed disappointment over what she described as the easy granting of Ghanaian citizenship to foreign personalities.
“Let’s get serious as a country. It’s like this country we are not serious. Somebody comes to Ghana for a day or two and you’ve shown the passport into the person’s hands,” she stated.
Lily Mohammed particularly directed her criticism at the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, saying she had high expectations of him.
“Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, you are somebody we had high expectations of. You’ve shown the Ghanaian passport into the hands of somebody who is streaming and embarking on his own personal thing, coming to dance on our jollof and jump on our Black Star Square. What has it done to our GDP? What has it done to our economy?” she queried.
Comparing IShowSpeed’s situation to that of Ghanaian travel content creator Wode Maya, Lily Mohammed questioned why Ghana would grant citizenship so easily.
“Wode Maya has been putting Ghana on the map globally. Have you seen that he’s gone to America and the Americans have given him an American passport? Even Nigeria, has Nigeria given him a Nigerian passport?” she asked.
She further questioned what she described as the lack of tangible contribution by IShowSpeed to merit such an honour.
“Give him a Ghanaian passport for what achievement? What has he done for Ghana that he’s coming to sit on our jollof and walking away? Ghanaians jump on that jollof and eat the jollof he sat on,” she said.
Lily Mohammed called on authorities to protect the value of the Ghanaian passport and treat citizenship matters with greater seriousness.
“With the greatest of respect, let’s put some value on our passport, let’s put some value on our country. Anybody walking into Ghana in the name of ‘I’m putting Ghana on the map’ and every minute we show them a Ghanaian passport, meanwhile Ghanaians are queuing for passports,” she added.
She concluded by lamenting the difficulties many Ghanaian citizens face in acquiring passports, despite being born in the country.
“Ghanaian citizens born in Ghana are queuing. People are going through corners just to get their passport done,” she said.
