The Minority in Parliament has called for an independent investigation into payments the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made to Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa and has demanded the resignation of the sector Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The caucus says an independent probe is necessary to establish the facts surrounding the GH¢49.72 million reportedly spent on evacuating 1,964 Ghanaians between May 27 and September 4, 2026, amid renewed xenophobic attacks. The Minority has raised concerns about alleged gaps in flight records, inconsistencies in payment registers and duplicate entries in documents relating to the evacuation.
Addressing a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, October 27, the Ranking Member on Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, said the Minister's handling of the exercise had brought his high office into disrepute. "Given the gravity of these revelations and in order to ensure an impartial investigation into the matter, we call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Honourable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to resign immediately. His handling of this exercise has brought his high office into disrepute," he said.
The Minority has also questioned payments for reintegration and transport allowances, arguing that the issues require thorough scrutiny to establish whether there were any financial or administrative irregularities. The controversy follows the release of documents by the Ministry in response to a Right to Information request, which the Minority says contain discrepancies that require further investigation.
Mr Ablakwa has denied allegations of financial impropriety, insisting that the evacuation expenditure is accounted for. He has also called for an independent audit of evacuation exercises undertaken since 2017, including the South Africa operation.
The Minority says the investigation must establish accountability and ensure transparency in the management of public funds. It has warned that it will call on President John Dramani Mahama to dismiss the Minister if he fails to step down, and has threatened to initiate a vote of censure against him in Parliament if its demand is not met.
Separately, the Minority has denied allegations that it paid or attempted to coach some Ghanaian evacuees to speak against the government over the handling of their repatriation and related allowances.
Mr Jinapor rejected the claim, insisting that the Minority had not influenced any of the evacuees to speak publicly on the matter. "Let me place on record that at no point in time did the Minority engage, pay, and/or convince any of these people," he said.
His response followed a press conference held by some of the evacuees on Monday, October 26, during which they alleged that some members of the opposition had attempted to coach them to speak against the government. Mr Jinapor explained that some of the evacuees had decided to speak out after learning of discrepancies between the allowances they were allegedly entitled to receive and the amounts they actually received.
The Minority has raised concerns about expenditure on the evacuation exercise, citing alleged duplicate entries, payment records without signatures, missing supporting receipts and claims by some evacuees that they did not receive the amounts recorded against their names.
Mr Jinapor said the concerns remained unresolved despite explanations from the Minister and renewed the Minority's call for an independent audit of the exercise.
