People who came back from South Africa through the government’s evacuation program have said that some members of their group got phone calls and were told what to say against the government’s help package.
The evacuation happened after xenophobic attacks took place in South Africa a few months before. There’s been a lot of debate about the money given to the people who came back, and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been criticizing how the government handled giving out the support package.
On Monday, October 26, 2026, at a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Michael Addo spoke for the evacuees. He said that all the people who came back got the money they were promised: GH¢500 for travel and GH¢5,000 to help them get back on their feet.
“We know that some people in our group got calls telling them to speak badly about the government, but we can’t do that because of our values. Even if we like the opposition party more than the current government, we think it’s important to tell the truth and not let politics turn us into liars,” he said.
Mr Addo also said it wasn’t true that some evacuees didn’t get all their money. He said everyone got their allowances when they arrived back in Ghana.
“The idea that some people only got the GH¢500 for travel or only got the GH¢5,000 for reintegration is completely false. We want to make it clear that everyone got their full package when they arrived,” he said.