Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has rejected claims that some Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa received less than the allowances approved for them, saying his ministry had recorded no complaints more than four months after the exercise began.
Mr Ablakwa said all 1,964 evacuees, including minors, were paid a GH¢5,000 reintegration package and a GH¢500 transportation allowance, bringing the total amount to GH¢5,500 per person.
His comments followed a JoyNews report in which at least three people contacted by the organisation, and listed among those evacuated, claimed they had received GH¢2,000 rather than the announced total.
The minister questioned why the allegations had surfaced through the media months after the payments were made at the airport.
“For more than four months since the evacuation commenced, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not received a single complaint,” he said.
According to Mr Ablakwa, evacuees were told before leaving South Africa that they would receive GH¢5,500. The same information was repeated after they arrived in Ghana, he said.
He explained that each beneficiary was given two envelopes at the airport and encouraged to open them and check the contents. Journalists and bloggers were present during the distribution, with some recording evacuees as they counted the money, he added.
Speaking to the Ghanaian community in Ottawa, Canada, during an official working visit, Mr Ablakwa said the public nature of the payments and the lack of complaints made to his ministry cast doubt on the claims.
“These stories do not add up. And they are calculated at probably discouraging us from always stepping in and rescuing Ghanaians from harm’s way,” he said.
The minister acknowledged that he had not personally handed out the money but defended the officials responsible for the process. They included staff from the ministry’s Finance Bureau, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), and National Security.
Mr Ablakwa said he trusted the officials would not take advantage of vulnerable people who had already endured trauma in another country.
He also described the payments as the first occasion on which Ghanaians evacuated back home had received both a reintegration package and a transportation allowance.
Despite the criticism directed at him, Mr Ablakwa said he would continue to support Ghanaians facing difficulties abroad.
“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,” he said.
