Alfred Oko Vanderpuije flanked by Cletus Seidu Dapilah and Zuwera mohammed ibrahimah
The Majority Caucus on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has defended the GH¢49.72 million spent on the evacuation of 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa, describing the expenditure as prudent and insisting that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided a comprehensive account of the exercise.
The caucus said the total cost of GH¢49,721,786 represented an accurate reflection of the expenditure incurred during the evacuation, rejecting allegations by the Minority that substantial sums of public funds remained unaccounted for.
Addressing a news conference in Parliament on Tuesday, Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South, stated that the Committee received a report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 18, 2026, accompanied by a register containing the particulars of all 1,964 evacuees.
The documents, he said, included their names, dates of birth, passport numbers, professions, contact details, amounts received and signatures.
The caucus added that the necessary details and attestations had also been provided for minors through their parents or legal guardians.
The Majority further indicated that the Ministry had submitted receipts and other supporting documents covering chartered flights, commercial airline tickets, transportation, feeding, accommodation and other logistical arrangements made by the Ghana’s High Commission in South Africa.
Mr. Vanderpuije said the documentation also included evidence of the GH¢16 million donation by Engineers and Planners, owned by businessman Ibrahim Mahama, together with correspondence relating to the contribution and letters of appreciation acknowledging it.
The caucus maintained that the documents demonstrated the Ministry’s commitment to transparency and parliamentary accountability.
He also said no Ghanaian evacuated from South Africa had come forward to complain about not receiving the GH¢5,500 integration and transportation allowance.
“For the avoidance of doubt, every minor received an allowance. Any calculation of the total allowances paid must account for them as well. Surely, counting children when compiling the list of evacuees and conveniently forgetting them when calculating allowances is a rather disingenuous approach to arithmetic,” the caucus argued.
The Majority commended President John Dramani Mahama and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, for their roles in securing the evacuation, describing the exercise as a humanitarian intervention aimed at protecting the lives and welfare of Ghanaians abroad.
The caucus further disclosed that the Ministry had invited the Auditor-General to undertake an independent audit of evacuation exercises conducted from 2017 onwards.
Mr. Vanderpuije noted that the proposed audit would cover the COVID-19 evacuation in 2020, the evacuation from Ukraine in 2022, the Sudan evacuation in 2023 and the recent exercise in South Africa, as well as other relevant operations.
The Majority said such an audit would provide an opportunity for expenditure under successive administrations to be examined against the same standards of accountability.
They cited GH¢44.46 million spent on quarantine arrangements during the 2020 COVID-19 evacuation under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, raising questions about value for money.
The caucus also criticised the Minority for allegedly boycotting a briefing the Foreign Affairs Minister had offered the Committee before raising the financial concerns publicly.
The NDC MPs argued that the allegations should be assessed against documentary evidence rather than political claims.
The Minority had raised concerns about the evacuation expenditure, alleging that substantial amounts of public funds remained unaccounted for.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House