Minority Demands Independent Audit of GH¢49.7m Ghanaian Evacuation Expenditure
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and MP for Bosome-Freho, has accused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of failing to adequately account for portions of the GH¢49.72 million spent on evacuating Ghanaians from South Africa following xenophobic attacks. Presenting the Minority’s findings from documents obtained through a Right to Information request to Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, he said discrepancies in payment registers, flight records and duplicate entries had left about GH¢16.4 million requiring further explanation. The Minority’s review questioned whether the records fully supported the government’s reported evacuation of 1,964 people and the associated expenditure, including reintegration grants, transport allowances and flight costs.
The Minority has called for an independent audit by a reputable accounting firm, with the findings made public to establish whether the discrepancies resulted from incomplete documentation, administrative errors or actual financial irregularities. It also raised questions about payments involving minors and alleged duplicate entries in beneficiary registers, while acknowledging that these issues do not, on their own, prove that funds were misappropriated. The Caucus said every payment and journey should be reconciled against supporting records. Its statement, however, cited different figures for the total amount requiring explanation—GH¢16.42 million and GH¢16.30 million—leaving a difference of GH¢120,884 that also needs clarification. The allegations have not established that money was stolen or that the official number of evacuees was deliberately inflated.
