Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh
The Minority in Parliament has alleged that GH¢6.27 million meant for the reintegration and transportation of Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa has not been properly accounted for in records provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the Minority, only 824 of the 1,964 evacuees could be confirmed from the payment registers as having received both the GH¢5,000 reintegration grant and the GH¢500 transport allowance, contrary to the ministry’s stated position that all evacuees received the two packages.
Addressing the media in Parliament yesterday, Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and Member of Parliament for Bosome-Freho, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, said the discrepancy leaves 1,140 evacuees whose payments could not be properly reconciled, requiring the ministry to explain the whereabouts of the funds.
The press conference followed the Minority’s review of documents supplied by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, in response to a request under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The Minority stated that its analysis involved matching names on the signed registers for the GH¢5,000 reintegration package against those on the GH¢500 transport allowance register to establish the number of evacuees who could be confirmed as having received both payments.
It said the findings formed part of broader discrepancies identified in the records relating to the evacuation exercise, which the minister has valued at GH¢49.72 million.
According to the Minority, the amount comprises GH¢33.72 million in government-funded expenditure and GH¢16 million attributed to Engineers & Planners for air tickets and reintegration support.
The caucus intimated that the minister also indicated that 1,964 Ghanaians were evacuated following xenophobic violence in South Africa, with each person receiving a GH¢5,000 reintegration grant and a GH¢500 transport allowance.
However, the Minority said its examination of the documents raised questions about whether the reported number of evacuees and the expenditure incurred could be fully supported by the records supplied.
It also cited differences in the number of people who signed for the two payment packages.
The Minority said 1,708 people signed for the reintegration grant, while 1,001 signed for the transport allowance, leaving a difference of 707.
The Minority argued that the figures required an explanation, given the minister’s assertion that all 1,964 evacuees received both packages.
Beyond the payment discrepancies, the Minority questioned the records supporting the cost of commercial flights and related layover expenses.
It said the ministry reported spending GH¢9.42 million on flight tickets and layover expenses for the 1,038 people presumed to have travelled by commercial flights, after 926 evacuees were transported on chartered flights.
The Minority, however, claimed that the documents provided could establish the evacuation of only 247 people by commercial flights.
Together with the 926 people recorded as having travelled on chartered flights, it said the records accounted for 1,173 evacuees, leaving 791 people whose evacuation it could not verify from the documents.
Using its estimated average flight and layover cost per person, the Minority put the amount requiring further explanation at GH¢7.18 million.
It further identified alleged duplicate names in the reintegration and transport registers and flight manifests, raising questions about whether some individuals had been counted more than once in the reported figures.
Mr. Ayeh also raised concerns over 442 minors listed in the reintegration register, questioning whether the ministry had established specific safeguards for payments involving children and whether the money was received directly by them or through parents or guardians.
The Minority estimated the combined value of the reintegration and transport packages associated with the 442 minors at GH¢2.431 million and said the ministry needed to clarify how the payments were handled.
Combining the discrepancies it identified in the payment registers, flight records and other documents, the Minority put the total amount requiring satisfactory explanation at GH¢16.42 million, representing about 33 per cent of the reported cost of the evacuation exercise.
Mr. Ayeh said the discrepancies could mean that the ministry had not provided the complete details of the exercise or that the number of people evacuated and the expenditure incurred had been overstated.
The Minority called for a full and independent audit of the exercise, proposing that it be conducted by Deloitte Ghana, KPMG Ghana, PricewaterhouseCoopers Ghana or Ernst & Young Ghana, or another firm of comparable standing.
It also demanded that the audit’s terms of reference and findings be made public to enable Ghanaians to scrutinise the use of public funds.
While acknowledging that the minister had responded to its RTI request and invited the Auditor-General to audit the exercise, the Minority maintained that the response did not fully address its concerns over payment reconciliation, duplicate and unsigned entries, and supporting documentation for flight and logistics costs.
It urged the minister to provide a comprehensive account of the expenditure, insisting that public funds used to evacuate and support Ghanaians fleeing xenophobic violence must be subjected to transparent and verifiable accounting.
By Ernest Kofi Adu