South Africa Evacuation: We haven’t accused Ablakwa of wrongdoing; we want an audit – Minority

The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, says the Minority has not accused Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa of wrongdoing in the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.

The Damongo Member of Parliament (MP) said the caucus was seeking an audit to clarify what it considered anomalies in the expenditure.

Mr Jinapor explained that the Minority’s concerns centred on discrepancies it had identified in the accounts provided for the exercise, which required further scrutiny.

“The Minister provided a more than 200-page report to the committee. We (the minority) undertook some analysis of the report the Minister provided and found some portions of the report which we found anomalous. Based on that, we asked for an audit of the report and the expenditure. I am on record to say we have not accused the Minister of wrongdoing,” he said on Newsfile on Saturday, October 17.

“I am on record to have said that we are not even suggesting that there is any misappropriation or embezzlement; we simply say there are some discrepancies, and so let’s ask for an audit,” he added.

He maintained that requesting an audit did not amount to accusing the Minister of misconduct, but was intended to establish how the funds were spent.

His comments came as Mr Ablakwa defended the evacuation expenditure on the programme with a PowerPoint presentation on Newsfile, insisting that not a cedi was missing.

The evacuation brought 1,964 Ghanaians home between May 27 and September 4, 2026, following renewed xenophobic attacks and intimidation against foreign nationals in South Africa. The ministry put the total cost at GH¢49,721,786.

On September 18, the ministry submitted a report exceeding 200 pages to the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, in response to a Right to Information request. The documents included evacuees’ contact details and signatures.