Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has assured Ghanaians living in South Africa that no citizen seeking evacuation will be left behind amid ongoing arrangements to return affected nationals home.

In a Facebook post, the Foreign Affairs Minister commended Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin Quarshie, for locating a Ghanaian identified as Sylvester Boakye, who reportedly missed an updated evacuation notice and was the only Ghanaian to report at the O.R. Tambo Airport on Wednesday.

“I commend Ghana’s hardworking High Commissioner to South Africa, H.E. Benjamin Quarshie for locating the young Ghanaian who missed out on our updated evacuation notice and was the only Ghanaian to report at the O.R. Tambo Airport yesterday,” Mr Ablakwa stated.

According to the minister, Mr Boakye would be included in the planned evacuation exercise expected to cover about 800 Ghanaians.

“The young Ghanaian by name Sylvester Boakye can be assured that he would not be left out of the planned evacuations expected to cover some 800 people,” he said.

Mr Ablakwa stressed that the government remained committed to ensuring that every Ghanaian wishing to return home would be evacuated.

“No Ghanaian desirous of returning home would be left behind,” he added.

The minister also dismissed reports claiming that Mr Boakye had already been airlifted to Ghana on a chartered evacuation flight.

He explained that no evacuation flight had yet departed because Ghanaian authorities had agreed with South African officials to postpone the exercise pending the resolution of legal, technical, and logistical requirements.

“Clearly, Mr. Sylvester Boakye was not airlifted to Ghana as there was no chartered flight sent by the Government of Ghana due to an agreement with South African authorities to defer the evacuation pending the addressing of legal, technical and logistical matters,” he stated.

Mr Ablakwa further described the reports as false and insisted that “truth stands; and truth always wins.”