Ghana’s foreign affairs minister has sent a formal letter of complaint to the chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), decrying cases of xenophobic attacks targeting foreign nationals in South Africa.
The West African nations is requesting that the xenophobic incidents be placed on the agenda of the AU’s next mid-year meeting.
Accra has since repatriated a Ghanaian national who had appeared in a viral video related to the incidents.
Ghana is requesting that the matter be addressed at the Eighth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the pan-African organisation, scheduled for June 24-27, 2026, in El Alamein, Egypt.
In his letter to the AU Commission, foreign minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa described the situation as “an urgent matter of continental interest” and called on the organisation to take
four concrete steps namely: place the issue on the El Alamein agenda, strengthen its mechanisms for monitoring member states’ obligations under the Constitutive Act and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, establish a fact-finding mission to investigate the root causes of the violence, and facilitate dialogue and reconciliation initiatives promoting “tolerance, inclusion, and
continental unity.”
A triple diplomatic front
The AU’s intervention is part of a multi-pronged diplomatic response. Accra summoned the Acting High Commissioner of South Africa to formally protest.
The government also facilitated the repatriation of Emmanuel Akowuah Asamoah, a Ghanaian national who appeared in a video circulating on social media related to the attacks.
He arrived in Accra on May 5, accompanied by Ghana’s High Commissioner to Pretoria, Benjamin Anani Quashie.
Harold Agyeman, Director of Political and Economic Affairs Coordination at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the repatriation had been ordered by Ablakwa “as soon as the incident began,” in order to ensure the nation’s safety and reunite him with his family.
Asamoah thanked the government for “its prompt intervention.”
Invoking Nkrumah’s legacy
In his letter to the AU, Ablakwa invoked the memory of Ghana’s founder, Kwame Nkrumah, to underscore the moral significance of the action. “Africa’s full potential and empowerment can only be achieved when Africa unites,” he wrote, adding that “this aspiration begins with a collective resolution to ensure that no African is dehumanised on African soil.”
High Commissioner Quashie indicated that the South African authorities had “taken careful note” of Ghana’s concerns and were working to prevent any recurrence, while acknowledging that the situation was “not yet fully normalised.”
The Ghanaian High Commission regularly disseminates advisories to its community on areas to avoid.
A copy of the letter was sent to the chairperson of the AU Executive Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Burundi, in Bujumbura.
AC/Sf/fss/as/APA