Xenophobia Attacks: There Are 54 Ghanaian Churches In South Africa – Kwesi Ahwoi

Kwesi Ahwoi, Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa says calm has returned to Durban and other provinces in the country after some a recent wave of xenophobic attacks.

“Since last week up to now, there’s not been any violence and so everything is calm now but there is fear in people…Ghanaians should be rest assured because everything is calm and we are praying that it will stay like this,” he said.

Speaking in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on PEACE FM's morning show ‘Kokrokoo’, Mr Ahwoi dismissed reports that the Commission was unresponsive to SOS calls from Ghanaians in South Africa at the height of attacks and rather accused them of not available themselves for a proper formation of an association.

According to him, it is difficult knowing the the Commission does not even know the number of Ghanaians in South Africa, adding “even though the attacks were barbaric, it has helped us to come close with our people and to interact with them”.

“Ghanaians don’t want to relate well with the Commission; they don’t want to register and so we don’t even know the number of Ghanaians in South Africa. Ghanaians in South Africa has established 54 churches and so I invited the founders of the churches and 27 of them turned up and we told them to encourage their members who are Ghanaians to fill our forms so that we can relate well with them. For now, we are using the churches to organize a Ghanaian Association in South Africa…” he said.