BY Daniel Bampoe
The Minority Caucus on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has announced that it will boycott a scheduled closed-door meeting on the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa, insisting that the government must first provide a detailed account of how nearly GH¢50 million was spent on the exercise.
The Minority’s position was contained in a press statement dated September 15, 2026, and signed by the Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Member of Parliament for Damongo, Samuel A. Jinapor.
The decision comes ahead of a closed-door meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee scheduled for Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at which the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, is expected to brief lawmakers on the evacuation of Ghanaian nationals from South Africa.
According to the Caucus, it supported the government’s decision to evacuate Ghanaian citizens whose safety and welfare had been threatened by xenophobic attacks in South Africa. It described the protection of Ghanaians abroad as an important responsibility of the state and said its support for measures intended to protect the affected citizens had never been in doubt.
However, the Caucus argues that support for the evacuation does not remove the government’s obligation to account for public expenditure.
It says the central issue now is not whether Ghanaian citizens should have been rescued, but how public funds were used in carrying out the operation and subsequent reintegration of the returnees.
The Minority said it formally sought information on the evacuation expenditure under the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989).
According to the statement, the request was submitted on August 17, 2026, under reference number MP/BF/RTI/2026/007, and was received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 25, 2026.
The request, the Caucus said, was intended to obtain comprehensive information and supporting records concerning the cost and financing of the evacuation exercise.
This followed an indication by the Foreign Affairs Minister that the operation had been financed by the Government of Ghana and “Ghanaian partners.”
The Minority therefore requested information that would enable Parliament and the public to establish precisely where the money came from and how it was spent.
What the Minority wants disclosed
The documents requested by the Minority go beyond a single overall expenditure figure.
The Caucus is demanding a detailed breakdown of the expenditure incurred during the evacuation, including the sources of funding, the identities of private partners and the amount contributed by each of them.
It also wants records covering expenditure on flights and other transportation, accommodation, feeding, medical services and reintegration payments, as well as the relevant procurement and payment documents.
The demand for those records has now become the principal condition attached to the Minority’s participation in the parliamentary briefing.
The dispute gained further significance after the Foreign Affairs Minister announced on September 7, 2026, that almost GH¢50 million had been spent on the evacuation and reintegration of 1,964 Ghanaians.
The Minority says that despite the announcement of the total amount, the Ministry has not yet supplied the itemised expenditure statement and supporting documents requested through the RTI process.
The Caucus says those documents are necessary to enable both Parliament and the wider public to determine how the money was actually spent.
Okudzeto Ablakwa had rejected a GH¢20 million donation from MTN Ghana and rather accepted a GH¢16 million contribution from Engineers and Planners, a company owned by businessman Ibrahim Mahama, brother of President John Mahama.
Both offers were made in connection with the government’s emergency operation to evacuate Ghanaians from South Africa following reported xenophobic violence.
The contrasting decisions have triggered public debate over the government’s justification for turning down the larger corporate contribution while accepting a smaller private donation, particularly after the Foreign Affairs Ministry disclosed that the entire evacuation exercise eventually cost the state and its private partner GH¢49.72 million.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry has maintained that its decision to reject MTN Ghana’s offer was not based on the amount involved.
Critics have consequently questioned why a GH¢20 million offer from one of Ghana’s biggest corporate entities was turned down while a GH¢16 million donation from Ibrahim Mahama’s company was accepted.
