President John Dramani Mahama has approved the evacuation of 300 Ghanaians from South Africa following a renewed wave of xenophobic attacks targeting African nationals in the country. Ghana’s Ambassador to South Africa Benjamin Quashie confirmed the voluntary repatriation programme this week, and Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa pledged that no Ghanaian living abroad in distress would be abandoned. Arrangements are being made for additional repatriations as the situation develops.
The Mahama administration’s response builds on a high-profile individual case earlier this month. Emmanuel Akowuah Asamoah, a Ghanaian whose video from South Africa went viral after he was caught in xenophobic unrest, returned home to Ghana on May 5 over safety concerns. He met Ghanaian business mogul Ibrahim Mahama in Accra on May 12, with the businessman fulfilling a ₵200,000 pledge and offering him employment. The case has become a focal point of public discussion about diaspora safety and the limits of consular protection.
For the Ghanaian diaspora in Southern Africa — and for the broader West African diaspora community in South Africa — the evacuation programme signals that Accra is treating the current cycle of violence as serious enough to mobilise government resources. South African police have publicly condemned the attacks. Nigerian senator Adams Oshiomhole separately called for Nigeria to nationalise MTN and other South African companies. The situation is becoming both a humanitarian operation and a diplomatic test of the Mahama government’s diaspora protection posture early in its second term.
Sources: MyJoyOnline, May 12, 2026; GhanaWeb; YEN.com.gh.