The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has reacted to claims by the Minority in Parliament that over GH¢16 million cannot be accounted for in the evacuation of 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa.
“I can state unequivocally, without any scintilla of doubt, that not a cedi, not a pesewa is missing,” the Minister said during a television interview on JoyNews' Newsfile programme on Saturday (October 17, 2026).
Mr Ablakwa was responding to allegations that GH¢16.4 million was unaccounted for during the evacuation exercise carried out between May 27 and September 4, 2026, following xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Allowances, flight breakdown
The Minister said on the instructions of President John Dramani Mahama, every evacuee, including children, received GH¢5,000 as reintegration allowance and GH¢500 as transport allowance, totaling GH¢5,500.
He said the disbursement was done openly at the Accra International Airport on arrival and covered by the media, with some evacuees counting their money on the spot.
The Minister asserted that, all evacuees received their allowances and said he has captured it in a PowerPoint presentation of 177-page of sign-off sheets containing names, dates of birth, passport numbers, phone numbers and signatures in ink of all 1,964 beneficiaries.
In his breakdown, he said the total evacuation cost was GH¢49,721,786, out of which government contributed GH¢33,721,786 while Engineers and Planners, owned by Ibrahim Mahama, donated GH¢16 million.
He said GH¢10,802,000 went into allowances, calculated as 1,964 by GH¢5,500, plus GH¢84,274 for repatriation of two mortal remains and autopsy, and the rest for flights, medicals and hospitalisation of some evacuees who fell sick.
He said 956 evacuees were airlifted on chartered flights and 1,008 on commercial flights, at cost of GH¢38,835,512.00
The commercial breakdown, he said, was Ethiopian Airlines – 260, Air Tanzania – 598, Asky – 130 and Egypt Air – 20.
To corroborate the figures, he said the Ministry had receipts from all airlines, boarding passes and flight manifests.
“If you can't count manually, how about checking the receipt, the ticket, the boarding passes? The flight manifest has the full 1,964 names,” he said.
Discrepancies
Mr Ablakwa questioned the credibility of the Minority’s press statement, describing it as riddled with “blatant fabrications, embarrassing discrepancies and infantile errors”.GH¢
He pointed out that at paragraph 19 of their statement, the Minority claimed GH¢16,423,470.00 was unaccounted for, but at paragraph 22 the figure changed to GH¢16,302,586.00, a variance of over GH¢120,000.00.
Again, he said at paragraphs 9 and 10, the Minority claimed they counted only 824 evacuees who received allowances, but at paragraph 15 of the same statement they claimed 1,508 persons signed for the GH₵5,000 reintegration package while 1,001 signed for the GH¢500 transport allowance.
“How is that possible? What kind of voodoo analysis is this?” he queried.
The fourth discrepancy, he said, was the Minority’s claim that only 247 Ghanaians were evacuated commercially, yet they counted 442 minors from commercial flights.
“You claim there are only 247 on commercial flights and yet you count 442 children. More than the total number. Their argument collapses like a pack of cards,” he said.
Comparison with COVID-19 evacuation
For comparative analysis, Mr Ablakwa said records at the Ministry show that the COVID-19 evacuation in 2020 cost the taxpayer GH¢96.97 million, even though the vast majority of evacuees paid for their own air tickets, quarantine and COVID-19 tests, with only a few vulnerable persons supported.
“Out of this GH¢96.9 million, GH¢44 million was spent on quarantine alone. There was no reintegration or transport allowance, no medical bills paid. And yet they say they have never heard of GH¢49.7 million evacuation,” he said.
He said he holds his predecessors in high esteem and was not accusing anyone of theft, but that the audit would clarify matters.
Minority’s response
Responding to the Mr Ablakwa clarification, the Ranking Member of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Abu Jinapor, said the Minority Caucus on Foreign Affairs has not accused the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, of wrongdoing.
“I am on record to have said we have not accused the minister of wrongdoing. I am on record to have said that we are not even suggesting that some misappropriation or embezzlement or whatever is taking place.
“We simply say that there are some discrepancies and some amounts it seems not to have been accounted for,” Mr Jinapor said.
The Ranking Member said the Minority was only exercising its oversight responsibility over the MFA. According to him, a formal audit would settle the matter; adding that, the presentation by the Minister, was useful but does not conclude the matter.
Mr Jinapor said he would not be judgmental about the discrepancies cited in paragraphs 9 and 15 of that statement, which the Minister had described as contradictory as he had not critically examined those two paragraphs and would not associate himself with descriptions of “voodoo analysis”.
