‘Pure ingratitude or ignorance of history’ - Kpebu reacts to South Africans over Xenophobia

Prominent human rights lawyer and private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has strongly condemned the ongoing xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals in South Africa, attributing the hostility to either a blatant lack of historical education or sheer ingratitude.

Speaking on TV3’s weekend current affairs program, The Keypoints, on May 30, 2026, Kpebu expressed profound disappointment at the targeted violence, reminding South Africans of the immense diplomatic, financial, and logistical asylum Ghana provided to their liberation leaders during the Apartheid era.

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“These people; the South Africans, they are teh people we have nurtured here, whose leaders carried Ghanaian passports. We helped them in the fight for independence, gave them money, passports, and medical care right here in Ghana,” Kpebu stated.

“And today they have the temerity to attack our people. You see what happens when we don't teach our children history,” he added.

The outspoken lawyer specifically singled out Jacinta Zuma, a prominent figure leading anti-migrant campaigns, suggesting her rhetoric betrays a flawed understanding of the geopolitical solidarity that liberated her own country.

He warned that victims of the violence are already tracking assets and preparing to head to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights to demand heavy financial reparations.

Drawing a parallel to the local Ghanaian parlance of ‘Boneayɛ’ (ingratitude) and referencing the biblical narrative of the ten lepers, Kpebu stated that while the issue is complex, the backlash against West African migrants defies basic human decency.

“You help somebody today, tomorrow he turns back to pay you with so much bad deeds and wickedness that you forget... is this the person I gave a cup of water to when he was starving? It is a complex matter,” Kpebu added.