SA evacuation: Why blame Ablakwa instead of officials who paid evacuees? – Hopeson Adorye

The Director of Field Operations for the United Party, Hopeson Adorye, has questioned why Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is being held responsible for alleged shortfalls in payments to Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa.

He has called on critics to identify the officials who handled the disbursement of the allowances and establish whether they failed to pay some beneficiaries their full entitlements.

Mr Adorye made the remarks on JoyNews’ AM Show on Tuesday, October 27, amid scrutiny of the GH¢49.72 million spent on evacuating 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa.

“First and foremost, who shared the money? Is it the minister himself, or staff of the ministry?” he asked.

His comments follow a JoyNews Research investigation that found discrepancies in the payment records, including duplicate names, payments without signatures and cases in which some evacuees reportedly did not receive their full reintegration and transport allowances.

The government announced that each evacuee was entitled to GH¢5,000 as a reintegration allowance and GH¢500 for transportation.

However, the investigation raised questions about whether the available records adequately supported the payments reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The UP official argued that if ministry staff were responsible for distributing the money, they should also be held accountable if investigations establish that some beneficiaries were underpaid.

“Why are we holding Okudzeto and not holding those who shared the money?” he queried.

He stressed that focusing on the minister without establishing the roles played by the officials involved in the disbursement could prevent the actual problems from being addressed.