'The numbers don’t add up' – Adomako-Mensah on South Africa evacuation expenditure 

Member of Parliament for Afigya Kwabre North, Collins Adomako-Mensah

The Member of Parliament for Afigya Kwabre North, Collins Adomako-Mensah, has criticised the Foreign Affairs Ministry over discrepancies in records relating to the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.

The comments come amid an ongoing dispute between the Minority and the Foreign Affairs Ministry over the GH¢49.72 million spent on evacuating 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa following renewed xenophobic attacks.

The evacuation exercise ran from May 27 to September 4, 2026.

According to figures announced by Mr Ablakwa, the total expenditure comprised GH¢33.72 million in government funding and a GH¢16 million contribution from Engineers and Planners, a company owned by Ibrahim Mahama.

The funds covered flights, accommodation, feeding, medical care, transportation and allowances for returnees.

However, the Minority has called for an independent audit after reviewing more than 200 pages of documents provided in response to a Right to Information request.

It alleged that discrepancies in payment registers and flight records left GH¢16.42 million requiring further reconciliation.

The Minority also questioned duplicate entries and inconsistencies in passenger records, including information it said suggested that some evacuees’ passport details appeared more than once.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has rejected the allegations.

However, speaking on Accra-based Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on Wednesday, October 21, the MP cited records containing apparent errors in dates of birth and repeated passport numbers as reasons for an independent audit of the exercise.

“At least we know that we are in 2026. People can never be born in 2036,” he said.

Adomako-Mensah said the issue is not whether the evacuation was necessary, but whether the expenditure and records presented by the Ministry could withstand scrutiny.

“You don’t come on television and describe the Minority as a bunch of illiterates who don’t understand what they are doing,” he said.