Ignore Minority’s demands for detailed account of SA evacuation – Kwame Anthony tells Ablakwa

Press Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior and member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) national communications team, Julius Kwame Anthony, has urged Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa not to be distracted by the Minority’s demand for detailed procurement and payment records on the government’s GH¢49.72 million South Africa evacuation expenditure

The Minority in Parliament has demanded procurement and payment records covering the evacuation and reintegration of 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa between May 27 and September 4, 2026, following renewed xenophobic attacks and threats against African nationals.

Reacting to this, Kwame Anthony said the Minority’s demand for an itemised account was unnecessary because the Foreign Affairs Minister had already publicly disclosed the total expenditure and its breakdown.

“Do not mind them. Every single thing here can be calculated,” the NDC communicator said in an interview on Accra-based 3FM on Friday, September 11.

He argued that the GH¢49.72 million expenditure had already been broken down by the Foreign Affairs Minister into major components, including chartered flights, tickets, ground transportation, feeding, accommodation, medical care, and reintegration and transport allowances.

Kwame Anthony said the government’s disclosure that GH¢5,500 was paid to each of the 1,964 evacuees as reintegration and transportation allowance was sufficient to calculate the total amount spent under that component.

He also argued that the GH¢38.84 million spent on chartered flights, tickets and other related services could be calculated on a per-person basis using the number of evacuees.

The Minority, however, maintains that the disclosure of aggregate figures does not amount to full accountability and has requested procurement methods, supplier identities, contracts or booking records, invoices and evidence of payment.