Ghana: Information on the Ghana National Dance Ensemble; specifically, how the defection of some of its members would be viewed by the government
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 January 1993 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | GHA12326 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ghana: Information on the Ghana National Dance Ensemble; specifically, how the defection of some of its members would be viewed by the government, 1 January 1993, GHA12326, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac0618.html [accessed 8 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on the Ghana Dance Ensemble is available in the attached Response to Information Request GHA11194. Written documentation specifically relating to the view of the government on defection of the group's members could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB. However, oral sources provided the following information.
According to a professor in African Studies at Wayne State University, Michigan, the defection of a member of the Ghana Dance Ensemble would cause a "minor embarrassment" to the government of Ghana, but it would not be viewed as anything of great significance (5 Jan. 1993). In all likelihood, the person would not be persecuted upon his return to Ghana (Ibid.)
According to another professor at Bennet College, Greensboro, North Carolina, however, the Ghana Dance Ensemble is supported by the government, and, therefore, a person from this group who defected would be viewed as representing opposition to the government. Those opposed to the government could be detained in Ghana today (5 Jan. 1993). Upon return to Ghana, the person who defected could loose his/her job and association with the group and may have to undergo interrogation. Although the government of Ghana is still being very careful with public trials, there could be a possibility of prosecution (Ibid.).
Another professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Toronto stated that the Dance Ensemble is an academic (as opposed to a political) unit (5 Jan. 1993). Financially supported by the government of Ghana, the ensemble is based at the University of Ghana. Interrogation and/or prosecution would depend on the individual circumstances of the case, and it would be carried out pursuant to the internal rules of procedure of the university. The university would look upon defection as a breach of contract and trust, and it would probably find that the person defecting was using the university's resources to obtain personal gain. There would be a definite loss of his/her job, and the university would probably order the person to remit the financial benefits he/she gained from his/her associations with the university (Ibid.). The professor stated, the government would probably not detain the person.
References
Professor, Bennet College, Greensboro, North Carolina. 5 January 1993. Telephone interview.
Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto. 5 January 1993. Telephone interview.
Professor, African Studies. Wayne State University, Detroit. 5 January 1993. Telephone interview.
Attachment
Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation Centre (IRBDC), Ottawa. 17 July 1992. Response to Information Request GHA11194.
