The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, has accused the Foreign Affairs Ministry of failing to adequately account for expenditure on the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa, describing the entire exercise as a “grand scheme of corruption to siphon public funds”.
According to him, the discrepancies surrounding the GH¢49.72 million evacuation expenditure raise serious concerns about possible misappropriation of public funds, fraud and corruption, warranting an independent investigation into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Top Story on Tuesday, October 27, Mr Jinapor said the Minority believes GH¢16.4 million remains unaccounted for and has renewed its demand for Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to resign pending an independent audit.
“The point is that the totality of this whole South Africa evacuation accounted in expenditure smacks of a grand scheme of corruption to siphon public funds and in that case the minister should take ultimate responsibility,” he said.
Mr Jinapor said the concerns go beyond questions about whether the expenditure was adequately documented, pointing to alleged duplicate entries, discrepancies in payment records and cases where individuals reportedly signed for allowances they did not receive in full or at all.
He also cited expenditure records without supporting receipts and questions surrounding the chartered flights used during the evacuation.
“We have consistently maintained that some 16.4 million Ghana cedis is unaccounted for,” he said.
According to him, the Minority’s concerns have been reinforced by the Multimedia Group’s JoyNews Research documentary aired on Monday, October 26, which examined discrepancies in documents provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Research investigation reported apparent discrepancies in payment records, including questionable signatures, as part of its examination of how the GH¢49.72 million expenditure was accounted for.
Mr Jinapor further questioned why documents subsequently provided to Joy FM differed from those supplied to the Minority and Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee following a request under the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989).
He alleged that some of the documents appeared to have been prepared to address gaps in the Ministry’s account of the exercise.
“Subsequent to that, Joy FM was given documentation which was not within the contours of the documents which were provided to the Minority, which was provided to the Foreign Affairs Committee,” he said.
“And these documents, even when examined, it’s established clearly that these documents were conjured to kind of plug holes into the whole case which has been established.”
He argued that the differences in the records, alongside the other alleged irregularities, made an independent investigation necessary to establish how the public funds were spent.
The Minority is therefore calling for an investigation by an independent, internationally reputable auditing and accounting firm.
Mr Jinapor said the Foreign Affairs Minister should step aside while the investigation is conducted, arguing that his continued stay in office could undermine confidence in the process.
The Minority’s demands follow the controversy over the GH¢49,721,786 reportedly spent on evacuating 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa between May 27 and September 4, 2026, amid renewed xenophobic attacks.
The expenditure, according to figures presented by Mr Ablakwa, comprised GH¢38.84 million for chartered flights, commercial tickets, ground transportation, feeding, accommodation and medical care; GH¢10.8 million for reintegration and transport allowances; and GH¢84,274 for repatriating the remains of two Ghanaian nationals and related autopsy costs.
The Minister has rejected the Minority’s allegations, insisting that all the funds have been accounted for. He has also requested an independent audit of evacuation exercises undertaken by successive governments since 2017.
The disputed expenditure and supporting documentation remain subject to further scrutiny, with the Minority insisting that an independent audit is necessary to establish whether any public funds were misappropriated.