Minority caucus demands full account of Ghana’s South Africa evacuation spending

Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh is demanding a comprehensive financial report on Ghana’s evacuation of nationals from South Africa following recent xenophobic attacks. The Bosome-Freho MP has submitted a Right to Information (RTI) request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requesting details on how much public money has been allocated for the exercise since May 2026.

This request comes after the Ministry announced on August 13, 2026, that Ghana had funded the evacuation of over 1,600 Ghanaians from South Africa, with the process still ongoing. The Ministry stated that evacuees were provided with reintegration funds, transport, and other relief items upon their return to Ghana. However, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh argues that the Ministry has not disclosed the total cost of the exercise, leading him to question the transparency of the government’s spending.

He is requesting a breakdown of the total expenditure in both Ghana cedis and US dollars, covering various aspects such as air charters, commercial tickets, ground transportation, accommodation, staff costs, reintegration payments, and relief items. Additionally, he seeks invoices, payment vouchers, receipts, contracts, purchase orders, charter agreements, and approvals for the expenditure, as well as details on the funding sources, including the Consolidated Fund, Contingency Fund, the Ministry’s 2026 budget, supplementary appropriations, and contributions from the Ghana High Commission in Pretoria.

The MP is also asking for information on contributions from private sources, the names of all partners involved, the amount or value contributed by each, and whether those contributions were in cash or in kind. Furthermore, he wants a schedule of every evacuation flight, including the date, airline, number of evacuees, cost, and whether the flight was chartered or commercial.

The MP seeks a full account of the reintegration support provided to eligible evacuees, including the amount approved and actually paid, the total disbursement, and the number of beneficiaries. He also wants details on the relief items supplied, their quantities, and costs. Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh argues that the public has a right to know the details of the government’s funding for the evacuation, as the Ministry has already placed the information on the public record.

He demands that the Ministry provide the requested information electronically within the statutory period under the Right to Information Act, 2019.