South Africa Evacuation: Minority’s Claims of Unaccounted GH¢49.7m is Baseless- Majority
The controversy surrounding the evacuation of nearly 2,000 Ghanaian citizens from South Africa has escalated into a fierce political showdown in Parliament, with the Majority Caucus of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs forcefully dismissing allegations of financial impropriety as baseless and politically motivated.
Addressing journalists at a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, October 13, Dr. Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, declared that every single cedi of the GH¢49,721,786 spent on the repatriation exercise is fully accounted for and backed by meticulous documentation.
The Majority’s strong defense follows a press conference held a day earlier by the Minority Caucus, which alleged that over GH¢16 million remained unreconciled.
Dr. Vanderpuije commended President John Dramani Mahama and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, for displaying decisive leadership during a perilous period for Ghanaians overseas.
He revealed that on September 18, 2026, the Foreign Ministry submitted a comprehensive, itemized report to the committee, complete with an exhaustive roll of all 1,964 evacuees.
“We have the names of all the 1,964 evacuated Ghanaians. Not a single name is missing or unaccounted for,” Dr. Vanderpuije stated emphatically.
He noted that the master roll contained names, dates of birth, passport numbers, professions, contact details, exact amounts disbursed, and signatures of recipients, with particulars for minors duly attested to by their parents or legal guardians.
The Ablekuma South Member of Parliament added that the submission featured extensive supporting financial records, including receipts for chartered flights, commercial airline tickets, feeding, lodging, ground transportation, and logistic operations undertaken by Ghana’s High Commission in South Africa.
It also included official correspondence documenting a GH¢16 million donation from Mr. Ibrahim Mahama’s firm, Engineers & Planners.
Drawing on his decade-long tenure on the committee, Dr. Vanderpuije noted that he could not recall any historical evacuation exercise subjected to such rigorous transparency.
He directly contrasted the current exercise with past efforts, remarking,
“This level of transparency has never occurred after any of the evacuations carried out by the NPP in their 8 years in power.”
The Majority Caucus maintained that the total cost represents a true, prudent, and accurate reflection of the emergency effort, emphasizing that not a single evacuee has come forward to report non-receipt of the GH¢5,500 integration and transport allowance.
Furthermore, the Majority Chairman criticized the Minority for declining a direct briefing offered by the Foreign Affairs Minister prior to taking their grievances to the media, asserting that their refusal to engage through formal committee channels “raises legitimate questions about the sincerity of their professed commitment to accountability.”
To settle all doubts, Dr. Vanderpuije disclosed that an official request referenced CC/1, dated September 17, 2026, has been dispatched to the Auditor-General inviting an independent,
comprehensive audit of all state evacuation exercises since 2017. This overarching audit will encompass the 2020 COVID-19 evacuations, the 2022 Ukraine crisis, the 2023 Sudan airlift, and the 2026 South Africa exercise.
He asserted that accountability must be consistently and impartially applied across administrations rather than selectively invoked for partisan leverage, pointing out that the GH¢44.4 million spent on quarantine arrangements during the 2020 COVID-19 evacuations warrants equal scrutiny regarding value for money.
The Majority’s rebuttal comes on the heels of claims raised on Sunday, October 11, by Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, Deputy Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee and MP for Bosome-Freho.
Speaking on behalf of the NPP Minority Caucus under the banner “The Unreconciled Cost of the South Africa Evacuation,” the MP claimed that a review of over 200 pages released through a Right to Information (RTI) request revealed significant discrepancies.
The government undertook the evacuation between May 27 and September 4, 2026, following xenophobic violence in South Africa.
The state reported total costs of GH¢49.72 million—comprising GH¢33.72 million in direct public funding and GH¢16 million from Engineers & Planners—to provide chartered flights, commercial tickets, meals, lodging, medical care, a GH¢5,000 reintegration grant, and a GH¢500 transport stipend per person.
However, the Minority presented an analytical breakdown suggesting that register comparisons matched only 824 evacuees across both allowance lists, leaving a discrepancy of 1,140 individuals worth GH¢6.27 million.
They further alleged that while 926 passengers were recorded on chartered flights, commercial flight records only accounted for 247 passengers out of an expected 1,038, leaving 791 passengers and an estimated GH¢7.18 million in airfares unexplained.
When combined with duplicate register entries, unsigned lists, and GH¢2.43 million allocated to 442 minors, the Minority argued that GH¢16.42 million—roughly 33 percent of the entire budget—remained unreconciled.
Despite the Minority’s demands for an immediate forensic probe into the expenditure gaps, the Majority Caucus stands firm, insisting that the Ministry’s full disclosures leave no room for doubt and urging the Foreign Minister to remain steadfast against character assassination attempts.
Source: Felix Nyaaba/ expressnewsghana.com
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