South Africa evacuees accuse NPP of coaching returnees to criticise gov’t support

A representative of Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa following xenophobic attacks, Michael Addo, has accused some members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) of contacting and coaching returnees to criticise the government’s financial assistance package.

Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, October 26, Mr Addo said the evacuees were determined to give an honest account of the support they received, regardless of their political affiliations.

He stressed that political interests would not influence their accounts of the government’s assistance.

“We are aware that some members of our group have received calls and coaching to speak against the government, but our conscience will not allow us to do so, even if we support the opposition party rather than the government of the day,” the representative said.

The group also dismissed claims that some returnees received only GH¢500 as transportation assistance, while others were paid only the GH¢5,000 reintegration allowance.

According to the evacuees, all members received the full GH¢5,500 package, made up of GH¢5,000 in reintegration support and GH¢500 for transportation, on their respective dates of arrival in Ghana.

Mr Addo said the group considered it necessary to correct what it described as misleading accounts of the payments and urged the public not to allow partisan politics to distort the facts.

“It is only fair that we state the facts and refuse to allow petty politics to make us liars. The claims that some people received only the GH¢500 transportation allowance while others received only the GH¢5,000 reintegration allowance are all false. We want to state for the record that we all received the package on our respective dates of arrival,” he said.

The allegations come amid public debate over the government’s financial support for Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa following a wave of xenophobic attacks.

Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has also rejected claims that some returnees received less than the GH¢5,500 announced by the government.

He maintained that all 1,000 Ghanaians on the evacuation list, including minors, had received the full package.

Mr Ablakwa further stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not received any complaints regarding alleged shortfalls in the payments.

The competing claims have placed the government’s assistance programme under public scrutiny, with the evacuees insisting that all members received the announced support in full.