SA Evacuation: Minority Accuses Okudzeto’s Ministry Of Failing To Account For Gh¢16.42m

The Minority in Parliament has called for an independent audit into the government’s evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa, alleging that records provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa failed to adequately account for more than GHS16 million spent on the exercise.

The demand follows an analysis by the Minority of documents released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to a Right to Information (RTI) request concerning the evacuation of Ghanaians affected by xenophobic violence in South Africa.

According to the Ministry, a total of 1,964 Ghanaians were evacuated at a cost of GHS49,721,786, comprising GHS33.7 million in government expenditure and an additional GHS16 million provided by Engineers & Planners for air tickets and reintegration support.

However, the Minority says its review of payment registers, flight manifests and supporting documents revealed significant discrepancies that raise questions about the management of public funds and the accuracy of the figures provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Presenting the findings at a press conference in Accra on Sunday, October 11, 2026, the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and MP for Bosome-Freho, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh said only 824 individuals could be confirmed from the records as having received both the GHS5,000 reintegration grant and the GHS500 transport allowance that the Ministry said was paid to every evacuee.

He argued that this leaves 1,140 evacuees whose payments cannot be fully reconciled from the records supplied, representing approximately GHS6.27 million in reintegration and transport support that requires further explanation.

The center-right political group also raised questions about the documentation of flight costs. While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that 1,964 Ghanaians were evacuated, the Minority said it could verify only 926 evacuees transported on chartered flights and 247 on commercial flights, bringing the total number supported by the available records to 1,173 persons.

The elephant family said the remaining 791 evacuees were not adequately accounted for in the records reviewed, translating into an estimated GHS7.18 million in flight-related expenditure requiring clarification.

Taken together, the Minority calculated that GHS13.45 million of expenditure could not be fully reconciled from the Ministry’s records.

The group also highlighted concerns over the quality and reliability of the documentation itself. According to them, manual reviews of the registers revealed that 1,708 persons signed for the GHS5,000 reintegration package, while only 1,001 signed for the GHS500 transport allowance, despite the Ministry’s assertion that all evacuees received both payments.

Further scrutiny uncovered what the Minority described as extensive duplication of names across payment registers and flight manifests. They cited duplicate entries involving 42 names on reintegration registers, 112 names on transport registers and 29 names on flight manifests.

In the view of the Minority these duplications could indicate either administrative lapses or possible inflation of beneficiary figures and expenditure totals.

One of the most sensitive issues raised concerns the treatment of children who were evacuated.

The Minority said its analysis identified 442 minors on the reintegration register and questioned how payments intended for these children were administered.

According to the Danqua-Busia-Dombo group, the Ministry’s response did not specify whether the children received the payments directly, whether the funds were collected by parents or guardians, or what safeguards were implemented to ensure proper handling of the money.

They estimated that approximately GHS2.431 million in public funds was associated with payments to minors and argued that greater transparency was needed regarding the procedures followed.

In addition, the Minority contended that the duplication of names across various records exposed a further GHS543,354 that could potentially have been paid or counted twice.

Combined with concerns regarding payments involving minors, it estimated that an additional GHS2.97 million warranted closer scrutiny.

“The cumulative effect of these discrepancies, is that approximately GHS16.42 million, representing nearly one-third of the total expenditure on the evacuation exercise, has not been satisfactorily accounted for based on the records made available through the RTI process”, Hon. Asafo-Adjei noted in his address.

The opposition group further argued that there are only two possible explanations – either the Ministry has not yet disclosed complete records relating to the exercise, or the number of evacuees and the associated expenditure may have been overstated.

It stressed that both possibilities have serious implications for public accountability, and thereby, called for a full independent audit into the matter.

“We the mighty Minority are calling for a full blown audit by an internationally recognised accounting firm, including Deloitte, KPMG, PwC or Ernst & Young, with the findings made public”, Asafo-Adjei demanded on behalf of the group.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has previously indicated that the Auditor-General has been invited to audit the exercise.

However, at the time of the Minority’s press conference, the concerns raised over beneficiary records, flight costs, duplicate entries and payments involving minors remained unresolved.

By Stephen Larbi

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