I Paid £10,000 to Bring a Friend to the UK, but He Raped Someone’s Wife
Kwame Boateng, a Ghanaian who has lived in the UK for over 15 years, shared a shocking story during an interview with DJ Nyaami on SVTV Africa’s Daily Hustle Worldwide show.
Kwame explained that he has helped four people travel to the UK through the Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) system. Unfortunately, one of the men he assisted got into serious trouble after being accused of raping his friend’s wife in a shared apartment.
According to Kwame, the man and the victim were living in the same flat. The woman reportedly complained that she did not want to see him walking around in a towel, which led to tension. Later, while her husband was away, the man allegedly used a different phone number to contact her. When she returned home, the incident of rape happened, leaving her traumatised.
The woman, however, did not report the case to the police immediately because she had no Nkrataa (documents). Her husband also hesitated out of fear, but when he confronted the alleged rapist, the man pulled a knife and fled the house. Since then, he has been hiding, unable to return to the flat where everyone had contributed to support his rent.
Kwame, who had invested £10,000 to bring this man to the UK, now feels betrayed. “If my friend gets arrested, I will never get my money back. But at this point, I prefer he faces jail time and gets deported. That is better than him walking free after what he did,” he said.
He revealed that some people are even advising the woman to use the trauma from the rape case as grounds to apply for her documents. Others, however, are twisting the story, suggesting that the woman may have lured the man, since she allegedly invited him over and he later claimed she “reminded him of his ex.”
Reflecting on his life in the UK, Kwame shared how his mother brought him years ago, and he was shocked at the reality. “I thought abroad was heaven, but when I got here, I saw potholes, dust, and the struggles. It wasn’t what I imagined,” he said.
Kwame lived in London for 15 years before moving to Hackney. At one point, he paid £700 for a two-bedroom council flat in London, but when he moved outside, rent shot up to £900 for a three-bedroom house. He also revealed how housing and COS opportunities have created a wave of exploitation. Initially, he paid £18,000 for COS and later discovered that one COS could cover multiple dependents. Over time, he found cheaper ones at £4,000, but he warned that many people have been duped by middlemen.
Speaking on relationships, Kwame added that the rape incident also caused a painful breakup between the victim and her husband. “My friend defended his girlfriend, only to later find out she was still secretly talking to the same man who raped her. He gave up and ended the relationship. Now, none of them have documents, and their lives are in shambles,”he concluded.