Samuel Abu Jinapor
The Minority Caucus on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has called for the immediate resignation of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, over alleged financial irregularities in the evacuation of 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa.
The caucus has warned that it will ask President John Dramani Mahama to terminate the Minister’s appointment if he refuses to resign, and may initiate parliamentary proceedings for a vote of censure against him.
The Minority, led by its Ranking Member, Samuel Abu Jinapor, made the demands at a press conference in Parliament yesterday, citing alleged discrepancies in expenditure records, questionable payments and gaps in supporting documents relating to the evacuation exercise.
Mr. Jinapor said the revelations raised serious concerns about the use of public funds and required an independent investigation to establish the facts.
The caucus invoked Section 2.1(j) of President Mahama’s 2025 Code of Conduct and Ethics for Political Appointees, which it said required a minister to resign where his actions or leadership resulted in significant failure, corruption or a breach of public trust.
It also called on the President to terminate Mr. Ablakwa’s appointment under Article 81(a) of the 1992 Constitution if he failed to resign.
The Minority further warned that it would consider initiating a vote of censure against the Minister under Article 82 of the Constitution and Order 138 of Parliament’s Standing Orders if he remained in office.
Mr. Jinapor said the allegations had brought the Minister’s office into disrepute and undermined public confidence in his stewardship of the evacuation exercise.
GH¢49.7m Evacuation Bill
The controversy centres on the GH¢49.72 million spent on the evacuation of 1,964 Ghanaians who faced threats to their safety in South Africa.
Mr. Jinapor said the Minority initially supported the evacuation exercise but expected the government to account fully for the public funds committed to it.
He said the caucus subsequently invoked the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989), to obtain an itemised account of the expenditure and supporting documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
An examination of the documents, he said, revealed discrepancies between the Minister’s public statements and the payment registers, duplicated entries, gaps in supporting records and expenditures requiring further explanation.
The Minority subsequently raised the concerns publicly and called for an independent audit but remained dissatisfied with the explanations offered by Mr. Ablakwa.
Mr. Jinapor said further enquiries had uncovered additional anomalies and contradictions that deepened the caucus’s concerns about the management of the funds.
According to him, independent media investigations had also reportedly uncovered cases of evacuees who did not receive their allowances, duplicate entries, payments recorded without beneficiaries’ signatures and expenditure without supporting receipts.
The Minority renewed its call for a comprehensive independent audit by an internationally reputable accounting firm with a proven track record and unquestionable integrity.
Questionable Records, Flight Cost
The Deputy Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Member of Parliament for Bosome-Freho, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, raised further questions about the evacuation records and the cost of the charter flight.
He alleged that the documents did not adequately establish that all 1,964 people cited by Mr. Ablakwa had been evacuated and received the allowances recorded against their names.
Mr. Ayeh also questioned a subsequent set of documents provided for further verification, alleging that it contained new names, entries and signatures that raised concerns about the authenticity of the records.
He further challenged the reported US$750,000 cost of the charter flight used for the evacuation, arguing that comparable flights could cost considerably less.
According to him, a comparable flight could cost between US$150,000 and US$180,000, while even an emergency flight could cost about US$400,000.
He argued that the reported US$750,000 expenditure therefore required further scrutiny.
The Minority maintained that the alleged discrepancies warranted an independent investigation to establish the amounts spent, the beneficiaries who received payments and whether the funds were properly utilised.
Evacuees’ Allegations
The Minority also rejected allegations made at a press conference by some persons identifying themselves as evacuees that members of the caucus had paid them to speak against the government.
Mr. Jinapor insisted that the Minority had neither paid nor persuaded any of the evacuees to speak against the government.
He said some evacuees had voluntarily decided to speak out after learning about the allowances they were reportedly entitled to receive compared with what they had actually received.
He also expressed concern over media reports that the Ghana High Commission in Pretoria had issued a stern warning to the evacuees against speaking to the media about the matter.
“If the Ministry and the High Commission have nothing to hide, why are they attempting to gag the evacuees?” he asked.
According to Mr. Jinapor, some evacuees who attended the press conference on Monday admitted that they had not received the amounts the Ministry claimed to have paid them, despite the payments being recorded against their names.
The Minority insisted that an independent audit was necessary to establish the full facts surrounding the evacuation expenditure and ensure accountability for any financial wrongdoing.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House