Minority Demands Independent Audit Over Alleged GH¢16.4m Evacuation Financial Gap In South Africa Evacuation Budget.

The Minority caucus in Parliament has demanded an independent forensic audit on the Government's evacuation exercise of Ghanaian nationals from South Africa worth GH¢49.72 million, alleging a discrepancy of GH¢16.4 million in the official accounts. Presenting the findings of their counter on Sunday, 11th October 2026, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, Member of Parliament for Bosome-Freho and Deputy Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that documents provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration contain anomalies.

The Minority caucus is of the view that, although, there is an absolute humanitarian obligation to protect the country's nationals, the emergency nature of the mission does not absolve the Government from its responsibility to the tax-paying citizens to provide accurate public accounting.

The financial controversy surrounding the returnees began after a Right to Information request by the Minority which produced more than 200 pages of manifests, expenditure and disbursement lists. According to Mr Ayeh, a meticulous name-by-name examination and third-party verification has revealed numerous irregularities with the sums involved.

The opposition beleives that a whopping 33% of the total budget has been inadequately verified and flagged with concerns in reintegration grant registers, duplicates, commercial flight records, transport allowances and unconfirmed cash payments with a high number of minors.

A key area of contention has been the individual returnee aid packages. The Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, earlier on, announced that each of the 1,964 repatriated citizens was accorded a GH¢5,000 reintegration grant and a GH¢500 local transport allowance. However, the Minority research has revealed that only 824 evacuees could be cross-matched onto both the payment lists, which implies that there is a shortfall of 1,140 people or GH¢6.27 million in cash.

The main reason for the major humanitarian exercise was due to the xenophobic attacks and resurgence of anti-immigrant sentiments in various parts of South Africa. The operation which began on 27th May 2026 and terminated on 4th September 2026, brought in a final contingent of 41 citizens to the Kotoka International Airport. The Foreign Minister, on his part, announced the total expenditure for the whole operation and revealed that the Government spent GH¢33.72 million, while the corporates, through the generosity of businessman Ibrahim Mahama's Engineers & Planners, contributed GH¢16 million.

The controversy surrounding the exercise, however, does not mean that the Minority is suggesting that the sums were siphoned off or that passenger lists were doctored. In their findings, the Minority caucus felt that the Government needs to be called out for the administrative black hole.

They further recommended that either one of the top accounting firms in the country such as Deloitte Ghana, KPMG Ghana, PwC Ghana or EY Ghana should be contracted to conduct a transparent audit. While the Foreign Minister has agreed with the proposal for an internal review by the Auditor-General, the opposition feels that only an exhaustive and independent audit will satisfy the public's mistrust of the Government in matters of public funds.