Foreign Affairs Ministry seeks special audit of COVID-19, Ukraine, Sudan and South Africa evacuations

The Foreign Affairs Ministry in Ghana has requested the Auditor-General to conduct a special audit of all government-funded emergency evacuations since 2017, including recent operations to South Africa. A letter, dated September 17th, has been shared with AdomOnline and it seeks an independent review of the financial and administrative aspects behind these evacuations.

The audit is expected to evaluate four major operations: COVID-19 evacuations in 2020, the Ukraine rescue mission in 2022, Sudan's evacuation in 2023, and the South Africa operation in 2026. The Ministry also invites the Auditor-General to audit any other evacuation exercises deemed relevant. These evacuations, often executed with minimal notice, necessitate swift arrangements for transport, lodging, logistics, consular assistance, medical and psychosocial support.

Given their scale and complexity, the Ministry is keen on an impartial assessment of each exercise, providing detailed findings, costs, observations, and recommendations. It also seeks a summary of common issues and universally applicable measures from the audit.

The Auditor-General is tasked with evaluating the use of public funds under emergency conditions, and to extract lessons that could bolster the Ministry's readiness and internal controls for future emergencies. The Ministry has pledged full cooperation and is ready to provide all relevant financial and administrative records.