The Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, has demanded the release of detailed documentary records to enable Parliament and the public to verify the government’s account of the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.
According to the Member of Parliament for Bosome-Freho, while the government is justified in evacuating Ghanaian nationals who faced threats to their safety and livelihoods, the financial and operational records of the exercise must be made available for independent reconciliation.
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh made the demand at a press conference while responding to expenditure figures disclosed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, on September 7, 2026.
The Minister reported that 1,964 Ghanaians were evacuated from South Africa at a total cost of GH¢49,721,786.
The amount, according to the government, included GH¢38,835,512 spent on chartered flights, commercial air tickets, ground transportation, feeding, hotel accommodation, medical care and hospitalisation.
A further GH¢10,802,000 was reportedly used for reintegration and transportation allowances, with each evacuee receiving GH¢5,000 for reintegration and GH¢500 for transport.
Government also reported spending GH¢84,274 on the repatriation of two mortal remains.
Of the overall expenditure, GH¢33,721,786 was said to have been funded by the government, while Engineers & Planners contributed GH¢16 million towards the exercise.
The government has also stated that all liabilities arising from the evacuation have been fully settled.
However, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh said the disclosure of aggregate figures is not sufficient to establish the accuracy of the final account.
“A headline figure is not an invoice. A press briefing is not a contract. And a total is not an account,” he said.
The MP disclosed that he submitted a request under the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989), on August 17, 2026, seeking documents relating to the evacuation.
The request, referenced MP/BF/RTI/2026/007, was received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 25.
He said the request covered expenditure records, the source and authorisation of government funding, private contributions, flight and procurement records and the reintegration account.
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh said the Foreign Minister’s September 7 disclosure had provided useful headline information but had also made it necessary for the underlying records to be produced to allow the figures to be independently reconciled.
One of the MP’s key concerns relates to the relationship between the final number of evacuees and the reintegration and transport payments.
He noted that the government’s GH¢10,802,000 allocation for reintegration and transportation, divided by the GH¢5,500 package reportedly paid to each evacuee, produces exactly 1,964 beneficiaries.
He said this creates two records that should correspond: a travel ledger identifying the people actually evacuated and a payment ledger identifying those who received the GH¢5,500 package.
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh said he is not alleging that the two records differed but wanted government to provide both records to establish whether they contain the same 1,964 unique individuals.
He said personal information could be appropriately protected while still providing enough information to allow the records to be reconciled.
The MP also raised questions about differing figures reported during the first phase of the evacuation.
He said South Africa’s Border Management Authority reported that 300 Ghanaians were processed on May 27, with 295 ultimately found eligible to depart and board.
He added that Ghana’s High Commissioner was separately reported to have said that 297 people travelled to Ghana on that occasion.
For the June 6 and 7 weekend, the South African Border Management Authority reportedly recorded 323 passengers boarding the Saturday charter and 340 boarding the Sunday charter.
However, Ghana’s contemporary public account subsequently reported the three first-phase arrivals as 297, 340 and 342, giving a total of 979 people.
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh said the figures became more difficult to reconcile after the Foreign Minister subsequently described the same first phase, on July 27, as involving 926 people.
He therefore called on the Ministry to clarify which figure constitutes the authoritative Phase One total and to provide the passenger manifests supporting the number ultimately used in the government’s final account.
He stressed that “processed,” “cleared,” “boarded,” “departed” and “arrived” represent different stages of an evacuation operation and should not automatically be treated as interchangeable.
The MP also questioned the absence of a detailed public breakdown of the second phase, which involved the use of commercial flights.
According to the statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on July 28 that 180 people had arrived under Phase Two, with another 36 expected, bringing that particular group to 216.
Government subsequently reported on August 12 that more than 600 people had been returned under Phase Two through commercial flights.
On August 14, the Ministry reported that 50 evacuees arrived aboard an Air Tanzania flight.
Two days later, on August 17, 87 returnees were officially described as the 11th batch under Phase Two.
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh said these disclosures indicated that the commercial phase involved multiple batches, making a batch-by-batch account necessary.
He wants government to provide the travel date, passenger numbers, airline, flight or itinerary, ticket issuer, payer and cost for each batch.
He also wants information on any refunds, ticket reissues, cancellations and no-shows associated with the commercial arrangements.
“Government should not require Parliament, journalists or citizens to reverse-engineer a state operation from airline schedules,” he said.
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh singled out the August 14 Air Tanzania movement as a straightforward example through which the government could demonstrate the documentary standard being requested.
He said the Ministry had publicly confirmed that 50 returnees travelled on the flight.
The MP argued that such a group movement should generate supporting documentation, including booking records, passenger information or protected identifiers, ticket numbers, invoices, payment references and settlement records.
He is therefore asking the government to disclose who issued the tickets for the 50 passengers, who received payment, who settled the invoice and the total cost of the movement.
He said providing one complete transaction file could help demonstrate how the wider commercial evacuation account was managed.
Another area of concern is the GH¢16 million contribution by Engineers & Planners.
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh stressed that he was not questioning the company’s decision to support Ghanaians in distress and was not alleging that the contribution was made in exchange for political favour.
He said earlier media reports had indicated that Engineers & Planners was financing air tickets for returnees under Phase Two, while the government’s latest disclosure gave the company’s support as an aggregate GH¢16 million contribution.
The MP wants government to identify the specific invoices, passenger batches, airlines, suppliers or other expenditure categories to which the money was applied.
He also wants clarification on whether the contribution was paid directly to airlines, through intermediaries, reimbursed to government or disbursed through multiple transactions.
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh also called for greater clarity on the government’s own funding of the exercise.
He acknowledged that the Foreign Minister had previously stated, on June 6, that the evacuation was being funded from the government’s contingency budget allocation after presidential approval had been obtained.
The MP said the remaining questions concern the exact contingency appropriation or account used, the amount authorised and released, the relevant financial warrants or approvals and whether additional releases were made.
He also wants those releases reconciled with the government’s reported contribution of GH¢33,721,786.
He said the questions were part of normal public-finance oversight and should not be interpreted as opposition to funding an emergency evacuation.
“Humanitarian urgency does not cancel financial accountability,” he said.
The MP further argued that the urgency of the evacuation did not remove the requirement for proper procurement documentation.
He acknowledged that emergency circumstances can justify exceptional procurement procedures, including expedited or single-source arrangements where permitted by law.
However, he said such arrangements should still leave an audit trail, including approvals, supplier details, contracts or booking records, invoices, evidence of payment and post-event accountability.
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh said he was not alleging that procurement laws had been breached but was asking the government to disclose the procurement method used for major flight and service arrangements, the suppliers involved and the amounts paid.
Beyond the evacuation itself, the MP called for an update on government efforts to secure compensation and accountability for Ghanaians who suffered losses in South Africa.
He noted that some Ghanaians reportedly lost businesses and property, suffered attacks and, in some cases, lost their lives.
He therefore wants government to state how many claims have been registered, the value of documented property and business losses, representations made to South African authorities and any known investigations or prosecutions.
He also called for information on the current pathway towards compensation or restitution for affected victims.
According to him, evacuating citizens from danger was an immediate responsibility of the state, but pursuing justice for the harm they suffered should also remain part of government’s responsibility.
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh outlined a specific list of documents he wants government to produce to facilitate reconciliation of the evacuation account.
These include:
1. The final unique-person evacuation ledger identifying the 1,964 evacuees and their respective batches and travel status, with sensitive personal information protected.
2. The GH¢5,500 beneficiary-payment ledger, showing successful payments, failed transactions, reversals and reissues, to allow it to be compared with the travel records.
3. A complete flight and batch schedule** covering the period from May 27 to September 4, including dates, airlines, flight or itinerary details, passenger numbers and costs.
4. Procurement and commercial records for chartered flights and commercial tickets, including approvals, contracts or booking confirmations, quotations, invoices, payment vouchers and settlement evidence.
5. A schedule for the GH¢16 million Engineers & Planners contribution, identifying the invoices, suppliers, batches or expenditure categories covered and the payment routes used.
6. Contingency-funding records, showing the amount authorised and released and how those releases reconcile with government’s GH¢33,721,786 contribution.
7. A detailed breakdown of the GH¢38,835,512 operational expenditure, separating spending on flights and tickets, ground transportation, feeding, accommodation, medical care and hospitalisation.
The MP emphasised that the documents could be released with lawful redactions to protect private information such as passport details, medical records and bank account numbers.
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh said his position was not that the government should not have evacuated Ghanaians from South Africa.
He reiterated his support for the evacuation and commended officials, the Ghana High Commission in Pretoria, security and health agencies, churches, humanitarian organisations, private institutions and individuals who assisted the affected Ghanaians.
However, he maintained that the government’s declaration that the exercise had been completed and all liabilities settled should make it possible to provide a comprehensive documentary account.
“If the books are closed, open the books,” he said.
He called for the passenger manifests to reconcile with the final evacuee figure, the payment records to match the beneficiaries, each commercial batch to correspond with tickets and invoices, the Engineers & Planners contribution to be traced to identifiable expenditure and the contingency releases to reconcile with the government’s stated contribution.
“We do not need accusations where documents can provide answers. We do not need speculation where records can establish facts,” Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh said.
He maintained that the government’s September 7 press briefing provided its account of the evacuation, but the underlying records were necessary for Parliament and the public to verify that account.
“A total is not an account,” he reiterated.
