Benjamin Quashie, Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, has defended the team responsible for evacuating Ghanaians fleeing xenophobic attacks in the country.
According to Benjamin Quashie, 15 errors identified in the records of 1,964 evacuees should not overshadow the team’s efforts, adding that the team deserves a pat on the back.
He argued that the mistakes occurred amid intense pressure to organise the evacuation to ensure the safe return of affected Ghanaians.
Speaking in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa stated, “If out of 1,964 and we’ve made errors in just 15 names, I think that we deserve a pat on the back, especially with the kind of pressure we had and how we had to quickly improvise and ensure that there was value for money”.
“We had to quickly work around the clock to get them out of harm’s way and get them into Ghana,” he added.
He further addressed concerns about discrepancies in the evacuation records, revealing that information submitted to the ministry had been provided by South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA), which conducts the final screening of evacuees at the airport.
Benjamin Quashie disclosed that three agencies were involved in the process: South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, the BMA and the Ghana High Commission.
He revealed that the High Commission contacted the BMA after identifying the discrepancies, and the authority indicated that it had corrected the errors on its end.
“The information that we had is what we gave to the Ministry, and sincerely and fairly, the Ministry only spoke to the document that we sent to them. And that document came from the Border Management Authority of South Africa,” he said.
Benjamin Quashie, however, accepted responsibility for the errors identified in the records.
His comment follows Ghana’s High Commission in South Africa admitting to errors in the records of 15 evacuees’ birth dates of Ghanaians evacuated from the country.
In a press statement dated October 19, 2026, the High Commission said the errors occurred during the transcription of passport details by its officials.
According to Ghana’s High Commission in South Africa, passport expiry dates were mistakenly recorded as dates of birth.
“The High Commission takes responsibility for the minor clerical errors which affect only 15 individuals out of the 1,964 Ghanaians evacuated,” the statement said.
“Our verification of the records indicates that the dates interpreted as dates of birth were, in fact, passport expiry dates.”
The High Commission acknowledged that its officials made errors while transcribing passport details, attributing the mistakes to the emergency circumstances surrounding the evacuation of distressed Ghanaians.
“However, these minor clerical errors do not invalidate the identities of the evacuees, their participation in the evacuation exercise, or the fact that they received the approved reintegration and transportation allowances.”
The High Commission maintained that all Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa underwent the required identification, data-processing and departure formalities before leaving the country; subsequently provided corrected details for the 15 individuals to facilitate updates.
The mission, in their statement, also supplied the right birth dates and passport expiry dates for several people referenced.
“These details confirm the identities of the persons concerned and the corresponding travel documentation,” the statement said.
“The High Commission fully respects the important role of the media in promoting transparency and accountability. In that spirit, we encourage verification with the appropriate official sources whenever apparent discrepancies arise in administrative records,” it added.
The Ghana High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa, statement follows: Data released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa has raised questions about the accuracy of the records after several entries reportedly contained impossible dates of birth, including years 2034 and 2036.
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