Some South Africa evacuees didn’t receive reintegration and transport allowance – JoyNews Research

A recent investigation by JoyNews Research has revealed that not all of the 1,964 Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa received their reintegration and transport allowances worth GH¢5,000 and GH¢500 respectively, despite the government spending GH¢49.72 million on the operation. Isaac Kofi Adjei, the Head of Research at JoyNews, disclosed these findings on JoyNews Newsfile during an analysis of data related to the evacuation.

The team uncovered discrepancies in the records, including duplicate names, payments without signatures, and expenditure without supporting receipts. Mr Adjei explained that after comparing the list of evacuees shared by the Foreign Affairs Minister, they found inconsistencies in the data they had analyzed. Some evacuees were paid the allowances, but their payments lacked signatures, while others did not receive the intended GH¢5,000 resettlement allowance or GH¢500 transport allowance.

The records also contained future or impossible dates of birth. The Foreign Affairs Ministry and Ghana's mission in Pretoria later provided clarification on these issues. Another concern raised by the team was the lack of receipts for some expenditure items mentioned in the government's responses to Parliament and in data obtained by JoyNews Research.

Examples of such expenses include accommodation and transportation in South Africa, for which receipts were not provided. Adjei emphasized that these findings were based on the initial checks of the data obtained from their sources, as well as an examination of data collected directly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the evacuation. They concluded their investigation by airing their findings on Joy News on Monday.