The rot at the Italian Embassy in Accra

Complaints against the Italian Embassy in Accra on allegation of bribery, corruption, bureaucracy, delays, impertinence and the ‘go and come attitude’ of Embassy officials in handling visa application are numerously coming from different quarters to the extent that all should not be dismissed as ‘no case’.

Not much surprising, some of these allegations, if you live in Italy - unless you’ve been living in a hole –the debris is scattered everywhere.

This is a great country, history is painted everywhere, magnificent structures, infrastructures and the people are hard working – you can say that again for its past generations who through thick and thin, their exuberance, ingenuity and hard work have put the country in its place of history. Not much of the same can be said of most of the present age group of Italians rolling out who prefers to live life on the high, even if their money could not suffice for it. Nevertheless, the country has a reputation and can boast of some of the most affluent people in the world, enormously rich - some stuck up in cash up to their ear holes.

But underneath all these, lies a system painted with so much irregularities, a sweeping trend of ‘who you know’, con men and establishments who go about defrauding innocent people and the government don’t give a ‘toss’, so far as they pay their taxes, even if irregularly.

For a country that has seen more Governments than Christmas in the last half century and with over 50 political parties each pulling things in their favor the centre doesn’t appear to hold properly administratively and it shows in many Italian establishments, even outside their borders. When it comes to the allegations mentioned no one knows it better than Italians themselves and is a problem that confronts their government, they are always suspicious and unsure of whatever documents is presented to them.

There is a prevailing situation that Italians don’t trust anyone. Reports of falsification of documents by other nationals to enter another country might have contributed to issues related to the Italian Embassy in Accra where applicants can even be asked to come along with their ‘weighing card’ at the time of their birth to prove their true identity in applying for a visa. No country would like to wave a welcome flag to migrants, some who become more of a liability than an asset to the State, engage in prostitution, peddling in drugs which will fire you up but in the end fry your brains and in the worse of some of its cases as religious fanatics who considers their religion boring unless they go out and spill blood killing innocent people.

It could be admitted some people present fictitious documents to get their way through in applying for a visa and in the light of this stringent measures are applied in the application of visas but it’s in the right sense for the Italian Embassy in Accra to treat those they see queuing infront of their office as humans not as headless pigs and show them some respect. It’s the right of any legal migrant resident in Italy who satisfy all required conditions to apply for the spouse, children and even parents to join him or her in Italy – conditions are such that they need their family to help their stay in the country. The ‘go and come attitude’, ‘bring this’, ‘bring that’ when every requirement has been met is an attribute of the Italian. You hardly walk into an Italian office submitting all required documents and come out with what you requested for, they are always unsure, not believing you and in any slight deviation the help of the boss would have to be sort for first – remember Italians don’t want to be held responsible for any lapses. Sometimes they don’t tell you all the requirements they need in the first instance and as if that’s part of the application process they send you packing again asking you to bring additional documents. Go to their banks in order to cash money and irrespective of the amount and people behind you in a queue they count the bank notes one after the other into your hands – you know why? so you don’t come back to say it’s not correct – that’s the extent at which insincerity, dishonesty and deceit (you chose any) can bring unto people.

The situation described at the Italian Embassy in Accra is not much different from what even legally resident immigrants face in Italy. Italians laws on foreign nationals have always raised so many questions and criticisms. The interpretation of the law depends on who you meet at the counter and sometimes the day, the demands keep changing – it’s a whole new ball game in Italy.

Under the circumstances, the Ghana government cannot tell the Italian Embassy in Accra how to handle its affairs likewise the Italian government to the Ghana Embassy in Rome, which is to say, ‘this is my country these are my laws and those who don’t want to obey my laws should leave my country’ but we are now in a civilized and developed world and giving the extent of these reports and allegations it calls for proper scrutiny of the situation, asking visa applicants to come along with their hospital weighing card at the time of birth among similar demands is way over the top, to say the least, foolish and unreasonable – who knows what they will ask next, the date and time you were conceived?

The Italian Embassy in Accra has over the years been tainted with a bad image, its’ name is being dragged in the mud due to some unscrupulous officers and some ridiculous laws and it’s left with His Excellency (Ambassador) Fabrizio D’Agostini and his officers at the helm of affairs to remove these stinking dents, certainly both Ghana and Italy stand to gain from relation between the two countries.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.