We All Received The GH¢5,500 Returnee Package – South Africa Evacuees

Story By: Deborah Adorsu

Some Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa have dismissed claims that beneficiaries were underpaid, insisting that all returnees received the full GH¢5,500 package announced by government.

The evacuees said they received GH¢5,000 as reintegration support and GH¢500 as transportation allowance, bringing the total to GH¢5,500 each, as confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Monday, October 26, one of the returnees, Rev. Emmanuel Akukuo, who was evacuated with his family of six, said every member of his family received the complete amount upon arrival at the airport.”We all received the full reintegration package.

The claims that some people received only the GH¢500 transportation or only GH¢5,000 are all false,” he said.

He noted that evacuees were informed before leaving South Africa that the package would be given to help them resettle, and were asked to open and verify their envelopes at the airport in the presence of journalists and bloggers.

Another evacuee who arrived on July 31, 2026 aboard a Tanzania Airlines flight challenged critics to verify his flight and seat details, and alleged that some returnees had received calls coaching them to speak against government.

The comments come after a report claimed at least three evacuees received GH¢2,000 instead of GH¢5,500, an allegation Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has rejected, stating that the ministry has not received a single complaint in over four months since the evacuation of 1,964 Ghanaians began.