18 agricultural interns on an 11-month paid programme in Israel have absconded. The first to abscond were three interns who were among the first batch of 50 in 2018 while the other 15 absconded last year and have since not been accounted for.
Some of the escapee interns put up claims that they were homosexuals and that they would be prosecuted if they return to Ghana where the practice is illegal.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, who disclosed this said the ministry is considering cancelling the programme if the trend continuous.
He said he would not allow such interns to tarnish the image of the country and also stain the cordial relations between Ghana and Israel.
He said consequently, all beneficiaries of the programme would now be expected to sigh bonds, so that in case any of them did not return, the guarantor would be required to pay a penalty.
Dr Akoto was speaking at an orientation programme for the fifth batch of 200 interns in Accra. He described the situation as unfortunate adding that he would cancel the programme if continuous.
They were selected from the Kwadaso and Ejura Agric colleges, the Universities of Ghana and Cape Coast.