The Minority in Parliament has alleged that GH¢16.42 million of the GH¢49.72 million spent to evacuate Ghanaians from South Africa remains unaccounted for after reconciling the figures.
The caucus said its analysis of documents provided by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in response to a Right to Information (RTI) request had uncovered discrepancies involving evacuee payments, flight records, duplicate entries and payments involving minors.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament on Sunday, October 11, the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and Member of Parliament for Bosome-Freho, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, said the discrepancies require further explanation from the minister.
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He called for a comprehensive audit by an independent accounting firm, arguing that an external review would help establish whether the reported expenditure corresponds with the number of people evacuated and the payments made, and proposed Deloitte Ghana, KPMG Ghana, PricewaterhouseCoopers Ghana and Ernst & Young Ghana as possible firms to undertake the exercise.
According to the Ranking Member, the Minority’s analysis puts the total financial exposure at GH¢16,423,470, representing approximately 33% of the GH¢49,721,786 the minister reported as the total cost of the evacuation exercise.
The MP stressed that the findings were based on the party’s examination of documents supplied by the ministry and called for an independent audit to establish the accuracy of the figures.
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The evacuation involved Ghanaians who fled South Africa amid xenophobic violence. According to the minister’s figures cited by the Minority, 1,964 people were evacuated.
The reported total cost comprised GH¢33,721,786 in government-funded expenditure and GH¢16 million attributed to Engineers & Planners for air tickets and reintegration support.
A major concern raised by the Minority relates to the GH¢5,000 reintegration grant and GH¢500 transport allowance reportedly provided to each evacuee.
Mr Ablakwa’s response, according to the caucus, indicated that each of the 1,964 evacuees received both payments.
However, the Minority said its name-by-name comparison of the signed payment registers found only 824 individuals whose names appeared on both the reintegration and transport records. Based on that comparison, the caucus said 1,140 evacuees had not been adequately accounted for across the two payment registers.
It calculated the value of the outstanding reconciliation at GH¢6.27 million, representing GH¢5,500 for each of the 1,140 individuals.
The Minority also reported that 1,708 people appeared on the register for the GH¢5,000 reintegration package, while 1,001 appeared on the register for the GH¢500 transport allowance.
It questioned why the two registers contained different numbers if every evacuee had received both payments, as indicated in the minister’s response.
The caucus demands that the ministry reconcile the registers and explain the differences.
The Minority also questioned the documentation supporting the reported flight expenditure of GH¢9.42 million. According to its analysis, 926 Ghanaians were evacuated through chartered flights, while the remaining 1,038 were expected to have travelled on commercial flights.
The caucus argued that it could identify records supporting the evacuation of only 247 people by commercial flights in the documents provided.
When added to the 926 passengers reportedly evacuated by chartered flights, the figure comes to 1,173, leaving a difference of 791 against the reported total of 1,964 evacuees.
Using an estimated average of GH¢9,076 per person for commercial flight tickets and layover expenses, the Minority put the value of the discrepancy at GH¢7,179,116.
It demands a reconciliation of the flight manifests, ticket records and associated expenses to establish the number of passengers transported and the costs incurred.
Beyond the payment and flight records, the caucus said its examination also uncovered duplicate names across the reintegration register, transport register and flight manifests.
It identified 42 allegedly duplicated entries in the reintegration records, 112 in the transport records and 29 in the flight manifests.
The Minority estimated that these entries could expose a further GH¢543,354 to possible double payment or double counting.
The caucus also raised concerns about 442 minors whose names appeared in the register for the GH¢5,000 reintegration grant.
It questioned whether the children received the grants and transport allowances directly or through their parents or guardians, and whether specific verification and safeguarding procedures were followed.
The Minority estimated the combined value of the two packages for the 442 minors at GH¢2.431 million.
The caucus combined the alleged duplicate-entry exposure and the concerns over payments involving minors to arrive at a further GH¢2.974 million in potential exposure.
It added this amount to the GH¢13.449 million arising from its payment-register and flight-cost calculations to arrive at its revised figure of GH¢16.423 million.
The Minority said it would consider another firm of comparable standing to be part of the financial probe provided it is independent of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and contractors paid from the evacuation budget. It wants the audit’s terms of reference and findings made public.
The caucus welcomed Mr. Ablakwa’s invitation to the Auditor-General to audit evacuation exercises dating back to 2017 but argued that the scale of the discrepancies it has identified in the South Africa exercise warrants an independent review with publicly disclosed findings.