“I have nothing to hide” – Ablakwa ready for probe into GH¢49.7m SA evacuation cost

Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has declared his readiness for a comprehensive audit of the GH¢49.7 million spent on evacuating Ghanaians from South Africa amid xenophobic attacks.

Speaking on TV3’s The Key Points on Saturday, October 10, Mr Ablakwa said he had invited the Auditor-General to conduct a thorough audit of all evacuation exercises undertaken since 2017.

“We have invited the Audit Service to come in to conduct a thorough audit into all evacuations since 2017,” he said, insisting that the government had nothing to conceal regarding the expenditure.

Mr Ablakwa also confirmed that he had responded to a Right to Information (RTI) request from the Minority in Parliament and had written to the Auditor-General to initiate a comprehensive audit.

His comments follow renewed demands by the Minority for the government to provide documentary evidence to support its expenditure on the voluntary evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.

On September 7, the minister disclosed that the government had spent GH¢49.7 million to evacuate 1,964 Ghanaians from the country following reports of xenophobic attacks.

However, the Minority has maintained that the figures announced by the minister must be supported by financial and operational records to enable Parliament and the public to independently verify the expenditure.

The Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, had filed an RTI request seeking details of the evacuation, including expenditure records and information on individuals and organisations that contributed to the exercise.

Mr Ayeh said the Minority was not seeking private information about the evacuees but rather documents necessary to establish the accuracy of the government’s financial account.

He called for records showing that payments, invoices, travel details and the final number of evacuees were consistent with the figures announced by the minister.

The Minority has said it supports the government’s decision to assist Ghanaians who wish to return home but insists that public expenditure must be backed by verifiable documentation.