South Africa evacuation: Dr. Tutu Boahene questions unsigned payment records

Political marketing and entrepreneurship lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba, Dr Bernard Tutu Boahene, has questioned discrepancies in payment records uncovered by JoyNews Research in the government’s evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.

He wants authorities to explain why some evacuees reportedly received money without signing the payment sheets, while others signed the same documents.

His comments follow a JoyNews Research investigation into the GH¢49.72 million spent on evacuating 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa amid xenophobic attacks.

The investigation identified questionable signatures, duplicate names and gaps in records for reintegration and transport allowances.

“Again, there were 44 evacuees who probably might have received certain sums of money, but had not signed,” Dr Tutu Boahene said on when speaking on Accra-based JoyNews' AM show.

He questioned the process used to disburse the funds and called for an explanation of the inconsistencies in the payment records.

“How on earth would you, on the same sheet, some people will sign, others will not sign? What were the reasons?” he asked.

Dr Tutu Boahene also challenged the explanation by Ghana’s High Commission in South Africa that errors in some evacuees’ records resulted from clerical mistakes during the transfer of information from PDF documents.

The High Commission had acknowledged errors in records relating to 15 evacuees, explaining that passport expiry dates had mistakenly been recorded as dates of birth.

It maintained that the errors did not invalidate the identities of the affected persons or their participation in the evacuation exercise.

However, Dr Tutu Boahene questioned whether the explanation adequately addressed the discrepancies, arguing that converting information from PDF files into editable Word documents is a straightforward process.