Ablakwa Hot Over GH¢49.7m SA Evacuation – Double Signatures, Name Duplications Pop Up

**FLASHBACK: Some evacuees **arriving in Ghana from South Africa

There appears to be no end in sight as far as allegations of misappropriation of funds in the evacuation of 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa in the wake of xenophobic attacks are concerned.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has in the past weeks been defending the expenditure of GH¢49.72 million spent on the evacuation exercise, churning out multiple documents to support its position.

But one thing remains certain: the more documents the ministry releases, the more discrepancies are detected in those documents.

The discrepancies centre on missing signatures, duplicate payments and some of the beneficiaries appearing on more than one payment schedules.

Minority’s Demands

Government’s expenditure of GH¢49.72 million to evacuate the stranded Ghanaians and their reintegration came under serious scrutiny after the Minority in Parliament detected some inconsistencies in the data released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following a Right To Information (RTI) request.

The Minority Caucus in Parliament, led by Deputy Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, has consistently questioned aspects of the expenditure, pointing out that they do not tally with the ministry’s own information provided to the Minority.

He has demanded an independent public audit to establish how the funds were used, to establish among others, whether all the beneficiaries received the reintegration fund of GH¢5,000 and another GH¢500 as transportation.

The Minority, at a press conference on October 11, 2026, alleged that the discrepancies in the passenger records, flight manifest and the reintegration payments raised questions about more than GH¢16.4 million in expenditure instead of the GH¢49.72 million indicated by the ministry.

One of the issues raised by the Minority concern what they describe as incomplete records and inconsistencies in the number of evacuees captured in the ministry’s documents made available to them.

JoyNews Revelation

A recent investigation carried by Accra-based JoyNews adds some credence to the issues raised by the Minority, pointing out that not all the 1,964 Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa between May 27 and September 4, 2026, got the GH¢5,500 package from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The investigation carried out by Isaac Kofi Agyei, Head of Research at JoyNews, revealed that the ministry’s own data presented to the media house point out that not all the evacuees got the GH¢5,500 reintegration fund and transportation, totalling GH¢10.802 million.

The research shows that the total amount spent by the ministry on the reintegration and transportation package amounted to GH¢10.41 million, a difference of GH¢396,500.

He also pointed out that there were additional information provided by the ministry that were not contained in the RTI information earlier provided to the Minority.

He again pointed out that there appeared to be duplication of signatures and some individuals having two different signatures signed against their names.

The research also discovered some evacuees’ details appearing on more than one document, with individuals with the same name, same passport number appearing on the list of ‘Batch 2’ and ‘Batch 3’ documents presented to the media house by the ministry.

Kofi Agyei also stated that he had spoken to three evacuees who confirmed receiving only GH¢2,000 each instead of the total GH¢5,500 allowance announced by the government.

He further alleged that approximately 40 other evacuees had received the GH¢5,000 reintegration allowance but were yet to receive the additional GH¢500 transportation allowance.

The JoyNews research also raised concerns about the payment documentation, alleging that some payments had been made without the corresponding signatures of recipients, although the names of those individuals were subsequently associated with signatures in the ministry’s payment records.

Ministry Fires Back

But the ministry has defended the expenditure, requesting evidence from JoyNews to provide the names and contact details of evacuees who allegedly received less than the GH¢5,500 announced by the government, as well as those who reportedly did not receive the full amount.

The ministry described the allegations as serious and said they warranted a thorough investigation.

It noted that they raised concerns about the integrity of the disbursement process and could affect the reputation of the institution and officers responsible for administering the payments.

The ministry stated that the allowances and reintegration packages had been publicly announced before the evacuation exercise began, and that it had not received any complaint from an evacuee about a shortfall in either payment.

It said the emergence of the allegations, approximately five months after the evacuation exercise commenced, required clarification and verification.

The ministry also expressed concern that JoyNews had not contacted it to verify the claims before they were aired.

To facilitate an investigation, the ministry has requested three categories of information from the media organisation.

These include the names and contact details of the three evacuees who allegedly received GH¢2,000 instead of GH¢5,500; the particulars of the approximately 40 evacuees who reportedly received GH¢5,000 without the additional GH¢500 transportation allowance; and the identities of individuals who allegedly received payments without signing the relevant acknowledgement records, despite their names being linked to signatures in the ministry’s records.

The ministry further requested any additional details or supporting information held by JoyNews concerning the allegations.

According to the ministry, the information would enable it to engage the affected evacuees, obtain their accounts, examine the relevant payment and acknowledgement records, and investigate the claims objectively.

It said the inquiry would be conducted on the basis of verifiable information, and reiterated its commitment to transparency, accountability and a fair and impartial examination of the issues raised.

BY Gibril Abdul Razak

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