Minority caucus demands full account of Ghana’s South Africa evacuation spending

The Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, is demanding a full financial audit trail of Ghana’s evacuation of nationals from South Africa. The Bosome-Freho MP has filed a Right to Information (RTI) request with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeking detailed records on how much the government has spent on the exercise since May 2026. His request follows a statement by the Ministry on August 13, 2026, which said Ghana had “fully funded the evacuation of our nationals from South Africa following recent xenophobic attacks.” According to the Ministry, the evacuation was funded by the Government of Ghana and “our Ghanaian partners”.

It also said Ghana had not sought financial or material support from the South African government. The Ministry further stated that more than 1,600 Ghanaians had been evacuated from South Africa back home since May 2026, with the exercise ongoing. The evacuees, it said, were being provided with reintegration funds, transport fares and other relief items upon arrival in Ghana.

But Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh says the statement leaves critical questions about the exercise’s cost and financing unanswered. “The statement confirms that Government resources have been committed to this exercise, but it does not disclose the total amount spent, the composition of the expenditure, the appropriation or account from which the money was drawn, or the identity of the private entities described as Ghanaian partners,” he said in the request. “The cost of the exercise is therefore not on the public record, and Parliament and the taxpaying public have no basis on which to assess it.” The MP is asking the Ministry to disclose the total amount spent in both Ghana cedis and US dollars.

He wants a breakdown covering air charters and commercial tickets, ground transportation, accommodation in South Africa, consular and travel documentation, staff costs, reintegration payments and relief items. He is also demanding invoices, payment vouchers, receipts, contracts, purchase orders, charter agreements, and expenditure approvals to support the spending. The RTI request seeks details on the source of the funds, including any money drawn from the Consolidated Fund, Contingency Fund, the Ministry’s 2026 budget allocation, supplementary appropriations and funds held by the Ghana High Commission i…

The Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament for the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, is demanding a full financial account of Ghana’s evacuation of nationals from South Africa following recent xenophobic attacks. His request follows a statement issued by the Ministry on August 13, 2026, announcing that Ghana had “fully funded the evacuation of our nationals from South Africa following recent xenophobic attacks.” According to the Ministry, more than 1,600 Ghanaians had been evacuated home from South Africa since May, with the exercise still ongoing. It also said evacuees were being provided with reintegration funds, transport fares and other relief items upon arrival in Ghana.

But Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh says the Ministry has not disclosed the actual cost of the exercise. He argues that while government has confirmed that public resources have been committed, there is no public record of the total expenditure, how the money was spent or the source of the funding. The MP is asking the Ministry to disclose the total amount spent in both Ghana cedis and US dollars.