The Minority in Parliament has accused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of failing to adequately account for a significant portion of the GH¢49.72 million reportedly spent on evacuating Ghanaians from South Africa following xenophobic attacks, alleging that discrepancies in payment registers and flight records leave more than GH¢16.4 million requiring further explanation.
The allegation was made by the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and Member of Parliament for Bosome-Freho, Hon. Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, who presented the Minority’s findings after examining documents supplied by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in response to a Right to Information (RTI) request.
According to the Minority, its review identified discrepancies involving reintegration grants, transport allowances, commercial flight records, duplicate entries and payments involving minors. The Caucus argues that the inconsistencies raise questions about whether the government’s announced total of 1,964 evacuees and the overall expenditure can be fully reconciled with the supporting documentation.
The Minority has consequently called for an independent audit by a reputable accounting firm, insisting that the findings should be made public to establish the accuracy of the expenditure and restore confidence in the management of public funds.
The allegations, however, do not establish that money was stolen or that the number of evacuees was deliberately inflated. Those questions require verification of the underlying records and a response from the Ministry.
How the GH¢49.7 million evacuation expenditure came under scrutiny
The controversy follows the government’s decision to evacuate Ghanaian nationals from South Africa after a resurgence of xenophobic violence and intimidation against foreign nationals in the country.
The evacuation exercise, which began on May 27 and ended on September 4, 2026, brought 1,964 Ghanaians back home, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The final group of 41 returnees arrived in Ghana on September 4.
On September 7, Mr Ablakwa announced that the exercise had cost GH¢49,721,786. The amount comprised GH¢33,721,786 in direct government funding and GH¢16 million attributed to support from Engineers & Planners, a company owned by businessman Ibrahim Mahama.
The reported expenditure covered chartered flights, commercial airline tickets, ground transportation, feeding, accommodation, medical care, reintegration support and other logistical expenses. The government also said each evacuee received a GH¢5,000 reintegration grant and a GH¢500 transport allowance.
While acknowledging the humanitarian importance of bringing Ghanaians home from a dangerous situation, the Minority maintained that the emergency nature of the operation did not remove the obligation to account for the funds used.
Mr Ayeh had therefore submitted an RTI request seeking itemised expenditure records, payment registers, flight manifests, procurement details and other supporting documents that would allow Parliament and the public to verify the official figures.
The Ministry subsequently provided a response exceeding 200 pages, including records relating to evacuees and the payments made under the exercise. The Minority says it undertook a name-by-name review of the documents and subjected its analysis to independent third-party scrutiny before presenting its conclusions.
Minority says only 824 evacuees could be matched to both payments
One of the principal findings presented by Mr Ayeh concerns the GH¢5,000 reintegration grant and the GH¢500 transport allowance that the government said were provided to each evacuee.
According to the MP, a comparison of the signed registers for the two payments showed that only 824 names could be matched across both lists.
The Minority argues that this figure falls significantly short of the 1,964 people the government says were evacuated and provided with the two packages.
Based on the MP’s calculations, the difference between the official evacuation figure and the 824 names matched across both registers is 1,140 people.
At GH¢5,500 per person for the combined reintegration and transport support, the Minority says the records do not adequately establish the payment of GH¢6.27 million in respect of those 1,140 evacuees.
The Caucus is demanding that the Ministry explain whether the apparent gaps arose from incomplete documentation, missing signatures, separate payment arrangements or other circumstances not reflected in the registers provided.
The Minority’s calculation rests on its interpretation of the available records. A full reconciliation by the Ministry and an independent auditor would be needed to establish whether the payments were made but inadequately documented, or whether there were actual discrepancies in the disbursement of funds.
Flight records raise questions over 791 evacuees
The Minority has also challenged the supporting documentation for the number of people evacuated through commercial flights.
Mr Ayeh said 926 people were recorded as having travelled on chartered flights. Based on the official total of 1,964 evacuees, he calculated that the remaining 1,038 people would have travelled on commercial flights.
The Foreign Affairs Minister reportedly put the cost of commercial flight tickets and layover expenses at GH¢9,420,463.68. Dividing that amount by the estimated 1,038 commercial-flight passengers gives an average cost of approximately GH¢9,076 per person.
However, according to the Minority’s examination of the records supplied by the Ministry, only 247 passengers could be evidenced in the commercial-flight documentation it reviewed.
When those 247 passengers are added to the 926 recorded charter-flight passengers, the total comes to 1,173 people.
The Minority says the difference between that figure and the government’s official total of 1,964 is 791 people whose travel records it could not adequately reconcile from the documents examined.
Applying the calculated average cost of GH¢9,076 per person, the MP estimates that approximately GH¢7.18 million in flight-related expenditure requires further explanation.
The Minority has called on the Ministry to provide the relevant manifests, tickets, invoices and payment records to establish how the commercial-flight expenditure corresponds with the final number of evacuees.
GH¢13.4 million in initial discrepancies
Combining the alleged GH¢6.27 million gap in the reintegration and transport payments with the estimated GH¢7.18 million in flight-related costs, the Minority calculates that GH¢13,449,116 has not been adequately reconciled in the documents it reviewed.
That amount represents approximately 27 per cent of the GH¢49,721,786 total announced by the government.
Mr Ayeh said the apparent discrepancies required a detailed explanation from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, arguing that the official expenditure and the number of beneficiaries should be supported by records that can be independently checked.
He suggested that the inconsistencies could reflect incomplete documentation or a mismatch between the reported figures and the supporting records. He maintained that neither possibility should be left unresolved when public funds are involved.
The Minority has therefore called for the reconciliation of every payment with the relevant beneficiary and every reported journey with the corresponding flight manifest and ticket documentation.
Duplicate names and blank entries under scrutiny
Beyond the alleged gaps in the payment and flight records, the Minority says it identified duplicate names in several of the annexes supplied by the Ministry.
According to Mr Ayeh, the GH¢5,000 reintegration register contained duplicate entries involving 36 people on page 56 and six people on page nine.
He further alleged that the GH¢500 transport register contained duplicate entries across several pages, while a flight manifest also contained names entered more than once.
The MP questioned whether the duplicated entries had been counted more than once when the Ministry compiled its final figures for the number of evacuees and the total expenditure.
The Minority says the Ministry must establish whether these repetitions were merely clerical errors or whether they affected the calculation of payments and the final number of beneficiaries.
It has also raised concerns about blank, unsigned and incomplete entries in the registers, arguing that the documents should clearly establish who received the money, the amounts involved and the basis on which each payment was made.
The existence of duplicate names in a register does not, on its own, prove that duplicate payments occurred. The Minority is demanding a verification exercise to determine whether any repeated entries translated into actual financial losses or inflated beneficiary figures.
Questions raised over payments involving minors
The Minority has separately questioned how children included in the evacuation were handled under the reintegration and transport support scheme.
Mr Ayeh said his manual count of the GH¢5,000 reintegration register identified 442 minors among the 1,708 people recorded in that register.
He argued that the Ministry’s response did not sufficiently explain whether the children received the same payments as adults, whether money was paid directly to them or through parents and guardians, and what safeguards were applied when handling the funds.
Based on the combined GH¢5,500 package, the MP calculated that GH¢2.431 million would relate to the 442 minors if each was entitled to both payments.
The Minority wants the Ministry to clarify the applicable payment arrangements and provide records showing how support intended for children was disbursed and documented.
The MP has also incorporated the issue of minors and the alleged duplicate entries into a revised estimate of the expenditure requiring further scrutiny.
However, the amount associated with minors should not automatically be interpreted as money lost or improperly spent. Establishing that would require evidence about eligibility, actual disbursements and the arrangements used to pay children or their guardians.
Minority raises total exposure to GH¢16.4 million
After adding its estimates relating to minors and duplicate entries to the earlier calculations on flight and reintegration payments, the Minority puts the total amount requiring further explanation at GH¢16,423,470.
The Caucus says that figure represents approximately 33 per cent of the overall GH¢49.72 million evacuation expenditure.
The MP is calling for a complete reconciliation of the registers and supporting financial records to determine whether the alleged discrepancies reflect missing documents, administrative errors, duplicated entries or actual irregularities in expenditure.
The statement also contains a different figure in its concluding demand, referring to GH¢16,302,586 as the amount the Minister should account for. That figure does not match the GH¢16,423,470 calculated in the body of the statement, leaving a difference of GH¢120,884 that should itself be clarified before the final amount is treated as settled.
The discrepancy underscores the need for a transparent, independently verified calculation of the total amount, if any, that remains unexplained.
Minority demands independent audit
In response to the findings, the Minority is demanding a full and independent audit of the evacuation exercise, with the results made public.
It has proposed that the audit be conducted by Deloitte Ghana, KPMG Ghana, PricewaterhouseCoopers Ghana or Ernst & Young Ghana, or another firm of comparable standing that is demonstrably independent of the Ministry and contractors involved in the operation.
The Caucus argues that an external audit would help establish whether the official total of 1,964 evacuees is fully supported by the travel records, whether the reintegration and transport payments were properly documented, and whether the duplicate entries had any financial consequences.
The demand follows the Ministry’s earlier indication that the Auditor-General had been invited to audit the exercise. Mr Ayeh acknowledged that step but argued that the scale of the discrepancies identified by the Minority warranted an independent and transparent examination.
