The Majority Caucus of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs has dismissed allegations by the Minority that public funds expended on the evacuation of 1,964 Ghanaian nationals from South Africa are unaccounted for, describing the claims as baseless and politically contrived.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, October 13, 2026, the Chairman of the Committee and Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, said the Minority’s press conference held on October 11, 2026, was an attempt to impugn the reputation of the Foreign Ministry without evidence.
Hon. Vanderpuije commended President John Dramani Mahama and Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa for their decisive leadership in securing the safe evacuation of the 1,964 Ghanaians, an exercise he said has attracted international recognition.
Comprehensive Report Received:
According to the Chairman, the Committee on 18th September, 2026, received a comprehensive and meticulous report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the evacuation exercise.
He said the report was accompanied by an exhaustive roll of all 1,964 evacuees containing their names, dates of birth, passport numbers, professions, contact information, amount received and duly appended signatures. For minors, particulars were captured with attestations by parents or guardians.
“Not a single name is missing or unaccounted for,” he stressed.
He added that the Ministry also furnished the Committee with extensive financial documentation, including receipts and records relating to chartered flights, commercial airline tickets, transportation, feeding, accommodation and other logistics undertaken by Ghana’s High Commission in South Africa.
The submission, he said, also contained documentary evidence of the GH¢16 million donation by Mr. Ibrahim Mahama’s Engineers and Planners, including donation correspondence and letters of appreciation.
GH¢49.7m Prudent — No Evacuee Complained:
The Majority Caucus said it is convinced after thorough examination that the Ministry has rendered an exceptionally comprehensive, impeccable and credible account.
Hon. Vanderpuije said in over a decade of service on the Committee, he has never seen any evacuation exercise with such extensive documentation a level of transparency he said never occurred under the NPP’s 8 years in power.
He declared that the total cost of the evacuation GH¢49,721,786 represents a true and accurate reflection of the exercise and described it as prudent expenditure.
He noted that so far, not a single Ghanaian evacuated from South Africa has come forward to claim they did not receive the GH¢5,500 integration and transportation allowance.
Audit Request and Minority Boycott:
The Committee Chairman disclosed that the Ministry, in a letter dated 17th September, 2026 and referenced CC/1 to the Auditor-General, has invited an independent and comprehensive audit of all evacuation exercises from 2017 onwards, including COVID-19 evacuation of 2020, Ukraine (2022), Sudan (2023), South Africa (2026), and any other relevant evacuation.
“This unequivocally demonstrates the Ministry’s commitment to transparency,” he said.
He added that the Foreign Minister on his own volition sought to brief the Committee after the evacuation, but Minority members boycotted the engagement, and then resorted to public allegations.
“If we were minded to descend into partisan recrimination, we could equally point to the staggering GH¢44,460,530 expended on quarantine alone during the 2020 COVID-19 evacuation under the previous administration when travellers were asked to pay for quarantine,” he said.
The Majority urged Hon. Ablakwa to remain focused on his work and not be distracted by what it called an attempt to assassinate his character.
Hon. Vanderpuije then invited his colleague, l Ibrahimah Mohammed Zuwera, MP for Salaga South, to give a more detailed exposition of their findings.
