The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has demanded a comprehensive account of the GH¢49.72 million spent on the evacuation of 1,964 Ghanaians fleeing xenophobic violence in South Africa, giving Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa seven days to produce supporting documents for the expenditure.
The party is questioning discrepancies it says it has identified in documents released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, particularly regarding chartered flight costs, payments to evacuees, financial contributions from private entities and the number of people for whom evidence of payment has been provided.
Addressing a press conference, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, Director of Communications for the NPP and Communications Director for Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s 2028 presidential campaign, insisted that the government must provide documentary evidence to support its expenditure rather than rely on explanations and assurances.
He said the party is not disputing the government’s decision to evacuate Ghanaians who were affected by xenophobic violence, stressing that its concerns centres on accountability for public funds.
Aboagye acknowledged the safe return of the evacuees and expressed condolences to the families of Ghanaians who died in the circumstances surrounding the violence.
He also commended churches, companies, agencies and individuals who supported the affected citizens during their period of distress.
However, he maintained that the successful evacuation do not absolve the government of its responsibility to account for the money spent on the exercise.
According to Aboagye, the NPP’s concerns follow questions raised by the Minority in Parliament, led by members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, about the GH¢49,721,786 expenditure.
He said the Minority had relied on documents obtained from the Ministry through a Right to Information (RTI) request, as well as reports submitted to Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and their accompanying annexes.
The NPP communications director argued that the documents do not adequately reconcile with the figures and explanations provided publicly by the Foreign Affairs Minister.
He accused Ablakwa of responding to the concerns through television appearances, social media statements and presentations without supplying what the party considers sufficient documentary evidence to substantiate the expenditure.
“An explanation is basically what you say and what you tell us. An account is what you show us,” Aboagye said, emphasising the need for invoices, receipts, payment vouchers, contracts, passenger manifests and signed payment records.
He argued that public expenditure must be supported by verifiable documents that can be examined by Parliament and independent auditors.
The NPP maintained that until the discrepancies identified in the documents are resolved, the matter should not be considered closed.
One of the party’s major concerns relates to the GH¢27,183,700 reportedly spent on chartered flights for the evacuation.
According to Aboagye, the amount represents approximately 55 per cent of the total expenditure, yet the documents available to the party allegedly do not include the corresponding invoices, contracts or the name of the charter operator.
He questioned why the Ministry has not provided the original invoices for the flights, arguing that the documents would help establish the actual cost of the arrangements.
Aboagye further alleged that information available to the NPP suggests that the first three chartered flights were operated by Ethiopian Airlines and arranged through an individual identified in the address as Mr Vanderpuye.
He claimed that the Ministry’s documents put the cost of each flight at approximately US$750,000, while the party’s industry checks suggest that comparable flights between South Africa and Ghana could cost between US$180,000 and US$300,000.
The NPP therefore questioned whether the amount charged for each flight is justified.
The party’s calculations, based on the reported cost and passenger numbers, suggest that the state paid approximately US$2,500 per passenger for the chartered flights.
However, these comparisons and the allegation of possible overpricing have not been independently established in the information presented at the press conference.
Aboagye challenged Ablakwa to publish the original invoices from Ethiopian Airlines for the three flights to enable further scrutiny of the costs.
He also called on the minister to identify the charter operator, explain how the operator was selected and provide documentation showing how the final prices were determined.
The NPP further raised questions about an alleged request for fresh invoices for flights that had already been completed months earlier.
Aboagye urged the minister to clarify whether the Ministry’s Chief Director had asked the individual involved in arranging the flights to issue new invoices and, if so, explain the reasons for the request.
He also called for clarification of an allegation that the minister’s bodyguard had received or pocketed US$10,000 connected to the evacuation arrangements.
The party asked the minister to explain the circumstances surrounding the alleged payment and clarify reports that the bodyguard had been dismissed.
The party also questioned the records supporting payments reportedly made to the 1,964 Ghanaians who returned from South Africa.
According to Aboagye, the Ministry indicated that each evacuee received GH¢5,000 as reintegration support and an additional GH¢500 for transportation, bringing the total to GH¢5,500 per person.
Based on the stated number of evacuees and the amount allocated to each person, the total expenditure on the payments would be approximately GH¢10.8 million.
However, Aboagye said an examination of the signed payment sheets supplied by the Ministry raised questions about whether all 1,964 people received the full amount.
He claimed that the records contained approximately 1,001 signatures for the GH¢500 transportation allowance and 1,508 entries for the GH¢5,000 reintegration support.
According to his analysis, only 824 names appeared on both lists.
The NPP argued that these figures do not establish that all 1,964 evacuees had received both payments.
Aboagye said the party is not necessarily disputing that the individuals whose names appeared on the lists had received money.
Rather, he said, the concern is whether the Ministry could provide evidence showing that every person included in the overall evacuation figure had received the stated payments.
He questioned why the government had calculated the expenditure using the total number of evacuees without, in the party’s assessment, providing matching signed records for every beneficiary.
The NPP is therefore demanding a complete list of the 1,964 evacuees, accompanied by proof of payment against each name.
It also wants the Ministry to reconcile the payment sheets and explain the apparent gaps between the number of beneficiaries reported and the signatures contained in the documents.
Another issue raised by the NPP concerns a reported GH¢16 million contribution from Engineers and Planners.
Aboagye said the Foreign Affairs Minister wrote to the company to acknowledge what he described as a cash donation of GH¢16 million towards the evacuation exercise.
However, he claimed that information contained in the Ministry’s RTI response suggested that the company had also purchased airline tickets and provided reintegration support directly to some of the returning Ghanaians.
The party wants the minister to clarify whether the GH¢16 million was transferred in cash to the government or whether the company provided goods and services directly on behalf of the Ministry.
According to Aboagye, airline receipts submitted to support the contribution reportedly accounted for approximately GH¢9.4 million, leaving a difference of GH¢6.6 million against the stated GH¢16 million.
He argued that the Ministry must explain how the entire contribution was applied and provide documentation to establish the value of any direct payments or services supplied by the company.
The NPP said a clear distinction must be made between money received directly by the government and expenditure undertaken by a private organisation on behalf of the evacuation programme.
It maintained that the documentation should establish the value of the contribution and how each component was used.
The party also questioned the evidence available to establish the number of passengers who travelled to Ghana on commercial flights.
Aboagye said the Ministry’s documents reportedly included manifests covering approximately 264 passengers who travelled on commercial flights, while the number of passengers who used those flights was put at approximately 1,038.
He argued that receipts showing payments to airlines would not, on their own, establish that every passenger for whom the government made payments actually travelled.
According to him, passenger manifests and boarding passes are necessary to verify who boarded the flights and arrived in Ghana.
He explained that some people who initially registered for evacuation might have changed their minds or failed to travel, meaning that the number of tickets purchased might not necessarily correspond with the number of people who completed the journey.
The NPP is therefore demanding passenger manifests and boarding passes for all the relevant commercial flights.
It wants the documents to be reconciled with the lists of beneficiaries who reportedly received the GH¢5,000 reintegration support and GH¢500 transportation allowance.
Aboagye said the documentation would help establish whether the government made payments only for people who actually travelled and received the stated assistance.
He also called for a complete list of the 1,964 evacuees, supported by verifiable evidence of their travel and payments.
The NPP communications director criticised Ablakwa’s public responses to the concerns, arguing that the minister’s assurances that all the necessary documents are available has not addressed the discrepancies identified by the Minority.
He said the Ministry has responded to an RTI request on September 18, 2026, following the conclusion of the evacuation exercise on September 4.
According to Aboagye, the documents supplied in response to the request should have provided sufficient evidence to reconcile the expenditure if the complete records existed and had been made available.
He questioned why the minister continues to insist that all the necessary records are available when, in the party’s view, the documents supplied did not establish the expenditure against the full number of evacuees.
Aboagye also rejected the suggestion that the Minority had misunderstood the documents.
He cited the reported differences in flight costs, the absence of invoices for the chartered flights and the discrepancies in the beneficiary records as matters requiring direct answers.
He maintained that the Minority’s concerns are based on documents obtained from the Ministry itself and should therefore be addressed through additional records and verifiable evidence.
The NPP said the minister should not focus solely on defending the evacuation exercise but should demonstrate how the expenditure was calculated and how the funds were disbursed.
As part of its demands, the NPP has called on Ablakwa to produce the complete set of documents within seven days.
The party wants the Ministry to submit the following records to Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and make them available for scrutiny:
– All invoices and contracts relating to the chartered flights.
– Payment vouchers and supporting financial records for the expenditure.
– Complete signed payment sheets for the GH¢5,000 reintegration support and GH¢500 transportation allowance.
– A full list of the 1,964 evacuees, with proof of payment against each beneficiary.
– Passenger manifests and boarding passes for the commercial flights.
– Documentation identifying the charter operator and explaining the selection process and pricing.
– A detailed account of the GH¢16 million contribution attributed to Engineers and Planners, including evidence of how the contribution was received and applied.
Beyond the release of documents, the party is demanding an audit by an independent, internationally recognised audit firm.
Aboagye said the audit’s terms of reference and findings should be made public to enable Ghanaians to assess the outcome.
He acknowledged that a review by the Auditor-General would be welcome but argued that an independent audit is necessary to address the questions raised by the Minority.
The NPP also wants the government to explain the apparent differences between the financial records and the number of beneficiaries documented in the evacuation exercise.
Aboagye warned that the party would support the Minority in pursuing further action if the minister fails to meet its demands.
He said the NPP would back efforts to raise additional questions on the floor of Parliament, submit a formal petition to the Auditor-General requesting a special audit of the evacuation expenditure and pursue further remedies available under the Right to Information Act.
The party also pledged to continue raising the issue publicly until the questions have been answered.
According to Aboagye, the objective is to ensure that the government accounts for the expenditure through verifiable records rather than relying on statements and assurances.
He insisted that the issue is not about questioning the humanitarian objective of the evacuation but about ensuring that public funds were properly accounted for.
Aboagye challenged Ablakwa to uphold the standards of accountability he had advocated while in opposition.
He recalled the minister’s previous scrutiny of government expenditure under the former New Patriotic Party administration, including his public examination of presidential travel costs.
Aboagye argued that Ghanaians expects Ablakwa to maintain the same standards of transparency now that he is serving in government.
He accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of applying different standards to itself when in office, arguing that public officials should be subjected to the same accountability requirements regardless of their political affiliation.
The NPP maintained that the minister’s previous record of demanding receipts and detailed explanations from government officials makes it particularly important for him to provide documentary evidence in the current matter.
The party said the questions surrounding the evacuation expenditure would remain unresolved until the Ministry supplied records that adequately reconciled the reported costs, payments and number of beneficiaries.
“The standard he set for others is a standard we now ask him to meet,” Aboagye said.
Dennis Aboagye insisted that the 1,964 Ghanaians who fled xenophobic violence in South Africa should not become the focus of a controversy over public expenditure.
He said the dignity of the returning citizens and the trust of Ghanaian taxpayers required a full account of the funds spent on their evacuation and reintegration.
At the centre of the controversy are several issues the NPP says require documentary clarification: the reported GH¢27.18 million spent on chartered flights, the evidence supporting payments to all 1,964 evacuees, the reported GH¢6.6 million difference in records relating to the Engineers and Planners contribution, and the documentation needed to verify the number of passengers who travelled on commercial flights.
By 1960news.com
