Foreign Affairs Ministry submits 200-page report to Minority on GH¢49.7m South Africa evacuation

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked the Auditor-General to conduct a special audit of government-funded emergency evacuation exercises undertaken since 2017, including the recent evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa. The request, contained in a letter to the Auditor-General, seeks an independent review of the financial and administrative arrangements relating to operations organised to assist Ghanaian nationals facing threats abroad. According to the Ministry, the audit has become necessary because of the scale and complexity of emergency evacuations, which often require urgent arrangements for transportation, accommodation, logistics, consular assistance, medical care and psychosocial support.

The review is expected to cover at least four major operations: the COVID-19 evacuations in 2020, the evacuation from Ukraine in 2022, the Sudan evacuation in 2023 and the recent South Africa operation in 2026. The Ministry has also invited the Auditor-General to examine any other evacuation exercises considered relevant to the review. According to the letter cited by MyJoyOnline, the audit is intended to provide an independent assessment of how public funds were used during the operations, taking into consideration the exceptional circumstances under which they were conducted.

The review is also expected to identify lessons that could strengthen the Ministry’s preparedness and internal controls for future emergencies. The Ministry has requested a separate assessment of each evacuation exercise, detailing its costs, findings, observations and recommendations. The audit is also expected to identify recurring challenges across the operations and recommend measures to address them.

The request comes amid scrutiny from the Minority in Parliament over expenditure on the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa following xenophobic attacks. The government placed the total cost of the exercise at GH¢49.72 million, covering flights, ground transportation and other forms of support for the returnees. The Ministry has since responded to an RTI request from the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, with a detailed report exceeding 200 pages.

Read Also: Foreign Affairs Ministry submits 200-page report to Minority on GH¢49.7m South Africa evacuation However, the proposed special audit extends b… The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded to a Right to Information (RTI) request from the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, by providing a report of more than 200 pages on the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa amid xenophobic attacks. A source at the Ministry told MyJoyOnline that the response was submitted electronically on Friday, 18 September 2026.

It contains information on more than 1,900 evacuees, including their contact details and signatures. The evacuation exercise, which ran from 27 May to 4 September 2026, brought 1,964 Ghanaians home at a total cost of GH¢49,721,786. Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa disclosed the figures at a press conference on 7 September 2026.