The minister described the allegations as misleading, insisting that all funds spent on the exercise could be accounted for through supporting documents, including airline receipts, passenger manifests and records of allowances paid to evacuees.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, October 17, Mr. Ablakwa maintained that no public funds were missing from the exercise, which brought 1,964 Ghanaians home between May 27 and September 4, 2026.

The evacuation reportedly cost GH¢49.72 million and was undertaken following renewed xenophobic attacks in South Africa that raised concerns about the safety of Ghanaians living there.

Minister Explains Payments to Evacuees

Mr. Ablakwa said the government, acting on the instructions of President John Dramani Mahama, provided each evacuee with a GH¢5,000 reintegration allowance and GH¢500 for transportation, bringing the total support package to GH¢5,500 per person.

He explained that the payments covered all 1,964 evacuees, including children and infants, with parents or guardians signing on behalf of minors where necessary.

To support the government’s figures, the minister said the Foreign Affairs Ministry had airline receipts, boarding passes, flight manifests and payment acknowledgement records documenting the operation.

He challenged the Minority to identify any evacuee who had been denied the stated allowances, arguing that the records contradicted claims of missing funds.

Minority Questions GH¢16.4 Million

The controversy began after the Minority reviewed documents provided by the Foreign Affairs Ministry in response to a Right to Information request.

The caucus alleged that discrepancies in payment registers, flight records, duplicate entries and the treatment of payments involving minors raised questions about more than GH¢16.4 million of the reported expenditure.

Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and Member of Parliament for Bosome-Freho, presented the concerns and called for an independent audit to establish whether the expenditure had been properly accounted for.

The Minority argued that the records supplied by the ministry did not adequately reconcile the total reported expenditure with the number of evacuees and the payments documented.

Mr. Ablakwa disputed the analysis, pointing to inconsistencies in the figures quoted in the Minority’s own statement. He noted that two sections of the statement cited different amounts as unaccounted for, with a difference exceeding GH¢120,000.

He described the discrepancies as evidence that the allegations were based on a flawed assessment of the documents.

Independent Audit Remains a Key Issue

Despite the minister’s rebuttal, the dispute has renewed calls for greater transparency in the management of public funds, particularly in emergency operations involving the protection and repatriation of citizens abroad.

An independent audit would provide an opportunity to examine the underlying records, reconcile the expenditure and determine whether the concerns raised by the Minority have merit.

For now, Mr. Ablakwa maintains that the evacuation expenditure is fully documented and that no money is missing. The Minority, meanwhile, continues to seek an independent examination of the figures.

The final resolution of the dispute will depend on the scrutiny of the relevant financial and operational records rather than the competing claims alone.

Photo courtesy: Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa