GH¢6.3m payments ‘missing’ in South Africa evacuation – Minority

The Minority in Parliament has called for an independent audit of the GH¢49.72 million spent on evacuating Ghanaians from South Africa following xenophobic violence, alleging that discrepancies in records provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs leave GH¢16.42 million requiring further explanation.

The caucus says its review of documents obtained from Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa under the Right to Information (RTI) Act identified inconsistencies in payment registers, flight records and other documents relating to the exercise.

Addressing the media in Parliament, the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and Member of Parliament for Bosome-Freho, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, said the records did not adequately account for all the evacuees and expenditure reported by the ministry.

He said the minister had indicated that 1,964 Ghanaians were evacuated, with each person receiving a GH¢5,000 reintegration grant and a GH¢500 transport allowance.

However, the Minority’s examination of the payment registers found that only 824 people could be confirmed as having received both packages, leaving 1,140 evacuees whose payments could not be reconciled.

GH¢6.27m in payments questioned

According to the Minority, the discrepancy in the two payment packages raises questions about the whereabouts of funds intended for the evacuees.

The caucus said 1,708 people signed for the GH¢5,000 reintegration grant, while 1,001 signed for the GH¢500 transport allowance, resulting in a difference of 707 between the two registers.

It argued that the figures were inconsistent with the ministry’s position that all 1,964 evacuees received both payments.

The Minority said its analysis involved matching names on the signed reintegration grant register against those on the transport allowance register to establish how many individuals could be verified as having received both payments.

It maintained that the discrepancies required the ministry to provide a detailed reconciliation of the funds disbursed.

Flight records raise further questions

The Minority also questioned the documentation supporting expenditure on commercial flights and related layover costs.

According to the caucus, the ministry reported spending GH¢9.42 million on flight tickets and layover expenses for 1,038 people presumed to have travelled on commercial flights, after 926 evacuees were transported on chartered flights.

However, Mr Ayeh said the documents supplied to the Minority could establish the evacuation of only 247 people by commercial flights.

When combined with the 926 people recorded as having travelled on chartered flights, the documents accounted for 1,173 evacuees, leaving 791 people whose evacuation the caucus said it could not verify from the records provided.

Using its estimated average flight and layover cost per person, the Minority put the expenditure requiring further explanation at GH¢7.18 million.

It also alleged that some names appeared more than once in the reintegration and transport registers and flight manifests, raising concerns about possible double-counting in the reported figures.

Questions over payments to minors

The Minority further raised concerns about 442 minors listed in the reintegration register, questioning whether specific safeguards had been established for payments involving children.

It said the ministry needed to clarify whether the funds were paid directly to the minors or received on their behalf by parents or guardians.

The caucus estimated that the combined value of the reintegration grants and transport allowances associated with the 442 minors was GH¢2.431 million.

It called for a detailed account of how the payments were authorised, disbursed and documented.

Evacuation cost put at GH¢49.72m

The Minority said the minister had valued the entire evacuation exercise at GH¢49.72 million, comprising GH¢33.72 million in government-funded expenditure and GH¢16 million attributed to Engineers & Planners for air tickets and reintegration support.

However, the caucus maintained that the documents supplied did not adequately substantiate some of the reported expenditure and the number of people evacuated.

Combining the discrepancies it identified in payment records, flight documentation and other supporting materials, the Minority put the amount requiring satisfactory explanation at GH¢16.42 million, representing about 33 per cent of the reported cost of the exercise.

Mr Ayeh said the discrepancies could indicate that the ministry had not provided complete documentation or that the reported number of evacuees and expenditure had been overstated.

The allegations have not, in themselves, established that funds were misappropriated. The Minority is demanding further documentation and an independent audit to determine whether the reported expenditure and payments can be fully verified.

Minority proposes independent audit

The caucus has proposed that Deloitte Ghana, KPMG Ghana, PricewaterhouseCoopers Ghana, Ernst & Young Ghana or another firm of comparable standing conduct an independent audit of the evacuation exercise.

It also wants the audit’s terms of reference and findings published to allow the public to scrutinise how the funds were used.

The Minority acknowledged that Mr Ablakwa had responded to its RTI request and invited the Auditor-General to audit the exercise.

However, it said the minister’s response had not adequately addressed its concerns about payment reconciliation, duplicate and unsigned entries, and supporting documents for flight and logistics expenditure.

The caucus is therefore urging the minister to provide a comprehensive account of the expenditure, insisting that public funds used to evacuate and support Ghanaians fleeing xenophobic violence must be accounted for transparently and in a manner that can be independently verified.