The leader of the displaced Ghanaians in the Ivorian region of Bouna, Kawuro Kwasi David, has dismissed claims that some 8000 Ghanaian refugees in the country have returned home.
Describing the claim as untrue in an interaction with the Deputy Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, the leader of the refugees in Vonkoro, a village in the region, had this to say:
“We are a little over 5,000 in this camp, and the Foreign Affairs Minister said that 8,000 of us in the Ivory Coast have returned to Ghana. Why is nobody from this camp, which is the largest, part of the 8,000 claimed to have returned home? This makes it difficult for us to believe the number of people who’re said to have returned home”.
“In any event, neither the Foreign Affairs Minister nor any Embassy staff visited any of the other refugee camps housing us. How were they able to conclude that 8000 have gone back to Ghana?” he queried.
Kawuro Kwasi David, the Assembly Member for the Bale Electoral Area in the Bole District, also expressed doubts about the total number of displaced Ghanaians, as he estimated that thousands of people also fled to Burkina Faso during the height of the violence.
Continuing, the leader of the refugees said this; “Over 13,000 of us came to Cote d’Ivoire, most of us about 5000 are in Vonkoro. Others are in Dagbekura, Gbotogbo, Tchormiikura, Masiiteen, etc, so the Minister only subtracted the 5000 from the 13,000 to arrive at the 8000 returnees when he hasn’t visited these other communities”
Returning to Ghana, though their ultimate goal, the leader of the displaced persons wondered how they would cope with life if they return home due to the destruction caused to their farms, houses and other properties.“It is our desire to go back home, but to which home really and to eat what? Where will we sleep? Our livestock are gone, houses burnt and farms completely destroyed. What are we going to do should we return home?” he asked in a sad tone.
The Minority Caucus of Parliament sent a delegation to visit the displaced Ghanaians in Cote d’Ivoire following the violence that rocked residents in parts of the Savannah Region of Ghana, to make a donation to them and find out the situation on the ground.
The Asafo-Adjei-led team arrived in Abidjan on Wednesday, September 17, and visited the refugees in Vonkoro on Thursday, September 18, 2025. The team has since returned to Ghana with their findings.
