● BREAKING • HOWEDEY.COM

Minority Demands Audit Of Ablakwa’s GH¢49m South Africa Evacuation

The Minority caucus in Parliament has called for an independent audit of the government’s GH¢49.72 million evacuation exercise from South Africa, alleging that records supplied by the Foreign Affairs Ministry leave more than GH¢16.4 million requiring further explanation. The call was made on 11th October 2026 by Deputy Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, MP for Bosome-Freho.

According to MyJoyOnline and Ghana News Agency monitoring, the Deputy Ranking Member presented the allegations following a review of over 200 pages of documents provided by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in response to a Right to Information request. The Minority said it reviewed the records name by name and subjected them to independent third-party scrutiny. The evacuation followed renewed xenophobic violence and intimidation against foreign nationals in South Africa.

The government says the exercise began on May 27 and ended on September 4, 2026, when the final group of 41 returnees arrived in Ghana, bringing total evacuees to 1,964. On September 7, Mr Ablakwa announced total expenditure of GH¢49,721,786, comprising GH¢33,721,786 in direct government funding and GH¢16 million in support attributed to Engineers & Planners, a company owned by businessman Ibrahim Mahama. The amount covered chartered flights, commercial tickets, feeding, accommodation, medical care, ground transportation and other logistics.

Each evacuee was said to have received a GH¢5,000 reintegration grant and GH¢500 transport allowance. While acknowledging the humanitarian importance of the operation, the Minority said its emergency nature did not relieve it of the obligation to account for funds spent. Mr Ayeh had requested itemised expenditure records, payment registers, flight manifests, procurement details and other supporting documents to reconcile official figures.

Cream College – Top-Drawer Certification

A central concern relates to registers for reintegration grants and transport allowances. Mr Ayeh said only 824 names could be matched across both lists, compared with 1,964 people the government said were evacuated and paid. The difference of 1,140 people multiplied by the combined GH¢5,500 package amounts to GH¢6.27 million. The Minority argues documents reviewed do not adequately establish payment of that amount and cite discrepancies involving commercial flight records, duplicate entries and payments involving minors.

The allegations do not establish that funds were stolen or beneficiary numbers deliberately inflated. The issues raised require verification of underlying records and a response from the Ministry. Meanwhile, Minister Ablakwa has said Ghana is ready to evacuate more citizens if attacks worsen and disclosed that more than 6,300 Ghanaians have been evacuated from distress situations worldwide since last year. The Foreign Affairs Ministry has also requested a special audit of government evacuation exercises from 2017 to date.

📲 Call or WhatsApp +233 20 2190 250 and share your story
Author: Stella Sunu • Published on Howedey.com

Tap button to open WhatsApp instantly

Scan QR to read more on howedey.com