Dr Ishmael Yamson, the Economist and Board Chairman of MTN Ghana, has admitted that the company was late in publicly condemning xenophobic attacks.
According to Dr Yamson, MTN Ghana should have issued its own statement earlier.
Speaking on Joy News, Dr Ishmael Yamson stated, “I apologise that we haven’t done that.”
“The corporate sector in South Africa has been very outspoken against it. The MTN chairman spoke directly, and he condemned it in no uncertain terms.”
“If you come to Ghana, MTN is big, and therefore, everybody would expect MTN to come out and issue a statement. Let me say now here that we condemn it unreservedly. We have nothing to do with it. We dissociate ourselves from it completely.”
He added, “MTN Ghana is a corporate citizen of Ghana. It is not MTN South Africa.”
“What is happening in South Africa is bad. And I can tell you that we are angry.”
“If you target MTN Ghana, you can target it, but at the end of the day, you are destroying something that you should protect.”
He disclosed that MTN Ghana has 120,000 Ghanaian shareholders and that about 98% of its employees are Ghanaian.
Dr Ishmael Yamson added, “MTN Ghana has not done anything to anybody in Ghana, here in Ghana. Has not reneged on any of its commitments in this country.”
“When the issue broke, I can tell you, the board immediately decided that we will set aside ¢10 million to welcome for as a welcome back.”
“What we then began to decide is that, and many of them, some I understand they were allowed only two suitcases when they are on their return. So how do we create a fund that we will use to help these people to start life all over again?”
He disclosed that the company plans to add another GH¢10 million to create a fund to support the returnees in rebuilding their lives.
“I think the mistake that we made was not to have engaged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately about this.”
“Sometimes when you are big, your internal bureaucracy can also delay a few things. But we have not forgotten. We will do it.” “We’ll do it in a big way. We’ll do it in a way that will make more meaning.”
“For those who did it, Telecel and the others, I really congratulate them. Pentecost Church, I congratulate them.”
It will be recalled that the renewed attacks in South Africa have targeted African migrants, including Ghanaians, with two Ghanaian nationals killed in separate incidents.
Ghana has since evacuated over 1000 nationals who felt unsafe.
Meanwhile, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, the Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, has revealed that he nearly lost his life while living in South Africa.
According to Apostle Eric Nyamekye, he lived in South Africa for about six years and personally experienced some of the security challenges and criminal activities affecting Ghanaians and other African nationals.
Apostle Eric Nyamekye made this known when Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, paid a courtesy call on him at the headquarters of The Church of Pentecost.
The Church of Pentecost Chairman recounted that he was accosted by armed robbers on two occasions, with the second incident posing a serious threat to his life.
Apostle Eric Nyamekye, speaking in a viral video, stated, “I lived in South Africa for about six years, and I suffered a lot from some of these things. I almost died in South Africa. Two times, I was accosted by armed robbers. The last one was too dangerous. When I was leaving South Africa, my luggage was stolen.
“And then recently, I had to rush to South Africa, about a year plus ago, when our national deacon was kidnapped in the midst of an offering, and I had to rush to South Africa. I was the right person to go, not because I was a chairman, but because they knew that I have also suffered from some of these things, so I needed to go in there and speak.”
Apostle Eric Nyamekye asserted that his experiences in South Africa had given him a deeper understanding of recent incidents of xenophobic attacks.
@ghnow_ Kweku Manu and Funny Face exchange Blows in a Boxing Fight #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ Funny Face vs Kweku Manu Boxing Fight end of Round 1 #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
