The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government had already made adequate provisions to cover the evacuation and reintegration of returning Ghanaian citizens and therefore did not require additional financial assistance.
Speaking to Channel Africa on Thursday, Asaase Radio Head of Legal and Political Desk Wilberforce Asare said the decision had surprised many Ghanaians because the government has traditionally welcomed support from private companies during emergencies. “It comes as a surprise to several people, the government rejecting as much as 20 million Ghana cedis, which is equivalent to nearly $2 million,” Asare said.
According to Asare, public reaction has been mixed.
Some believe the government is demonstrating its capacity to care for affected citizens without external assistance, while others see the decision as an attempt to distance itself from SA-linked support because the donation came from MTN, a company with SA origins. “As far as this xenophobic issue is concerned, it is the government of Ghana trying to distance itself from any form of support from anything SA a or anything associated with SA,” Asare said.
Asare argued that accepting the donation could have been interpreted politically, given tensions created by the attacks on foreign nationals in SA. “The government is demonstrating some level of pride by refusing to accept this offer,” Asare said.
Despite this, Asare stressed that MTN has a long history of supporting social and development projects in Ghana through corporate social responsibility initiatives. “So this particular gesture should not be any different from other things that MTN has done,” Asare said.
The government has maintained that its decision should not be interpreted as rejecting MTN’s goodwill but rather reflects existing arrangements already in place to support returning citizens.
Asare questioned whether the explanation fully accounts for the decision, noting that Ghana has previously accepted support from both domestic and international partners. “We are out there doing a lot of borrowing from international organisations just to be able to do things for the ordinary Ghanaian in the country,” Asare said.
“If from within the country there is a company that is able to offer such huge support and the government rejects it, there must be an underlying current which is causing the rejection.”
Regarding possible diplomatic implications, Asare said the issue appears to be confined to MTN and the Ghanaian government rather than the SA government. “The picture that has been painted so far is that MTN felt obligated to support the efforts and so has offered to support,” Asare said.
“I don’t expect the SA government to make any inputs into this because it was purely a corporate social responsibility gesture from MTN.”
–ChannelAfrica–
