President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, has urged Ghanaians to remain calm amid rising tensions over xenophobic attacks in South Africa and growing calls for retaliation against South African businesses operating in Ghana.

Speaking to Citi News on Thursday, May 28, 2026, Gyamfi warned that emotional retaliation could worsen tensions across Africa and undermine continental unity and peaceful coexistence.

“I believe that Ghanaians who have been repatriated, and indeed all Africans, should see this as a misunderstanding by some people in South Africa and should not react by repatriating South Africans back,” he stated.

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His comments come at a time of growing anger in Ghana following renewed reports of attacks, intimidation, and hostility targeting foreign nationals in parts of South Africa, as the situation has triggered calls from some Ghanaians for tougher measures against South African businesses operating locally, with debates intensifying on social media and political platforms.

However, the Catholic Bishop cautioned that retaliatory actions could create dangerous consequences across the continent.

“Once you begin that, it will have a snowball effect all over Africa. We just want everybody to keep calm. Initially, people may want to act emotionally to settle scores, but that is not the proper way to handle these issues," he warned.

Gyamfi stressed that Africans must continue to coexist peacefully despite occasional tensions and isolated incidents.

“Ghanaians will continue to live in South Africa, and South Africans will also continue to live in Ghana. Ghanaians have businesses there, and South Africans also have businesses here. Let us live in unity and love,” he appealed.

The President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference also lamented what he described as Africa’s continued division along colonial boundaries created during European rule.

“It is very sad that Africans continue to build on the divisions created by Europeans instead of breaking away from them. We keep emphasising artificial boundaries and differences,” he said, adding that isolated incidents and misunderstandings should not be allowed to define relationships between African countries.

“There will always be some aberrations. You should not build on the deviations,” he stressed.

Drawing historical parallels, Gyamfi referenced previous tensions between Ghana and Nigeria, during which both countries expelled each other’s citizens at different times.

“Ghana once made the mistake of asking Nigerians to go back home, and later Nigerians also repatriated Ghanaians. I do not think the two countries will ever repeat those mistakes again because they have learned their lesson,” he recalled.

His comments come as Ghana continues evacuating citizens from South Africa amid fears over renewed xenophobic violence, with authorities assuring returnees of government support and reintegration assistance.

NAD/MA

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