Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has defended the disbursement of GH¢5,500 to each Ghanaian evacuated from South Africa, insisting that all beneficiaries received their reintegration package and transportation allowance.
The minister’s comments follow media reports alleging that some evacuees received GH¢2,000 instead of the GH¢5,000 reintegration allowance announced by the government.
Speaking on the matter, Ablakwa said all 1,900 Ghanaians on the evacuation list, including minors, received the payments.
“Everybody on that list of 1,900 citizens, including minors, they all received the package,” he stated.
According to the minister, each evacuee was entitled to GH¢5,000 as a reintegration allowance and an additional GH¢500 as transportation support, bringing the total to GH¢5,500.
He described the initiative as a first in Ghana’s evacuation exercises, saying previous groups of evacuated Ghanaians had not received similar financial support.
“And as you all do know, this is the first time that Ghanaians have been evacuated that they have received a reintegration package and transport allowance,” Ablakwa said.
The Foreign Affairs Minister explained that the evacuees were informed about the financial package before leaving South Africa.
He said the government reiterated the information upon their arrival in Ghana and encouraged them to open their envelopes at the airport to verify the amounts received.
“When we met them to welcome them to the motherland, we again announced that they will be receiving two envelopes, 5,000 cedis reintegration allowance, 500 cedis transport allowance,” he stated.
Ablakwa added that the payments were made openly at the airport, where members of the media were present to witness the reception of the returnees.
“The media was present. We didn’t receive them in secrecy,” he said.
He maintained that beneficiaries were given the opportunity to check their money immediately after receiving the envelopes.
Ablakwa expressed surprise at reports that at least three people contacted by a media organisation claimed they had received GH¢2,000 rather than GH¢5,000.
He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not received any complaints about the payments during the more than four months following the commencement of the evacuation exercise.
“For more than four months since the evacuation commenced, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not received a single complaint,” he said.
“We didn’t receive a complaint at the airport that an envelope has not been received or an amount is not up to the figure.”
The minister questioned why the alleged discrepancies were only being raised through the media months after the evacuees had returned to Ghana.
“You are telling me that Ghanaians who stand for their rights at the airport, and even if they didn’t open the envelopes at the airport, when they got home and they noticed that it was not up to their amount, no complaints,” he said.
“They were waiting for a media organization to call them five months after, for them to complain that it was 2,000, not 5,000.”
Although he acknowledged that he did not personally distribute the funds, Ablakwa defended the public officials involved in the exercise.
He said personnel from the ministry’s finance directorate and the National Security team were people of integrity who would not exploit vulnerable returnees.
“Now, I will always defend my colleagues at the foreign ministry, even though I did not personally hand over these funds,” he stated.
“But I know that the team at the finance directorate of my ministry, the national security team, these are all public servants of impeccable integrity.”
He rejected suggestions that officials would deliberately take advantage of Ghanaians returning from difficult circumstances abroad.
“And nobody will seek to take advantage of vulnerable, traumatized evacuees from another country,” he added.
Despite the criticism surrounding the allegations, Ablakwa said the controversy would not weaken his commitment to protecting Ghanaian citizens abroad.
He suggested that the claims could discourage future efforts to rescue Ghanaians facing dangerous situations in other countries.
“These stories do not add up,” he said.
He further stated; “But I give you one assurance, that despite all the vilification, I remain fully committed to the welfare, the protection of the dignity and the rights of Ghanaians.”
“I am not discouraged at all,” the minister added.
