Manasseh Azure Awuni: Returnees Should Be Grateful, Not Complain About Resettlement Support

In response to renewed xenophobic threats in parts of South Africa, the Ghanaian government arranged airlifts to bring nationals home. That evacuation and the financial support that accompanied it have become a public debate in Ghana about adequacy and accountability.

• The state spent "huge sums" to charter aircraft and evacuate citizens at a time when national resources could have been used for other pressing needs. He says that comparison should make beneficiaries grateful because the government prioritized their safety.

• Some citizens who remained at home and paid taxes did not receive comparable support, and some other Ghanaians need relatively small amounts to start businesses yet have not been helped by the state. He uses these points to argue that complaints about the resettlement payments are misplaced.
• Public airing of dissatisfaction about the assistance, he warns, will be seized by political actors who seek negative narratives for gain.

Azure Awuni urges beneficiaries to see the assistance they received as a favour and an "added bonus," not as an automatic entitlement. He calls for appreciation and prayer for better outcomes rather than public grumbling.

Wider accountability and political context

The evacuation programme and its costs have attracted scrutiny in Parliament. A related report notes that the parliamentary minority has demanded records on GH¢49.7 million said to have been spent on the evacuation, seeking documentary evidence and the opportunity to verify how the funds were used. That demand highlights a separate strand of the debate: accountability for public spending on the evacuation.

• Parliamentary follow-up on the GH¢49.7 million figure and any accounting the government provides.

Azure Awuni's message is direct: the government expended significant resources to evacuate citizens facing danger abroad, and those who received state assistance should respond with gratitude rather than public complaints that he says amount to entitlement. The criticism sits alongside active calls in Parliament for transparent accounting of evacuation expenses, so the public debate includes both questions of individual conduct and demands for fiscal transparency.