The Minority in Parliament is demanding a detailed breakdown of the GH¢16 million contribution by Engineers & Planners towards the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.
According to the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, the government must disclose the specific passenger batches, airline invoices, and the ultimate recipient of the funds.
Addressing the media in Parliament on Thursday, September 10, 2026, the Bosome Freho MP said the call is strictly about transparency and accountability, not an attack on the company or any suggestion of political favour.
“For us, the government says Engineers and Planners contributed 16 million towards the evacuation exercise. We are not attacking Engineers and Planners for supporting Ghanaians in distress. We are not alleging that the contribution purchased political favour. We have no documentary basis for such claim,” he said.
Figures released by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on September 7, 2026 revealed that a total of 1,964 Ghanaians were evacuated at a cost of GH¢49,721,786.
Of the amount, GH¢38,835,512 was spent on chartered flights, commercial air tickets, ground transportation, feeding, hotel accommodation, medical care and hospitalisation, while GH¢10,802,000 went into reintegration and transportation allowances.
Each evacuee received GH¢5,000 for reintegration and GH¢500 for transportation, while GH¢84,274 was spent on repatriating two mortal remains.
The government says it funded GH¢33,721,786 of the exercise, with Engineers & Planners contributing GH¢16 million.
But Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh insists that the figures must now be supported by the underlying records, noting that the final account “does not identify which tickets, which passenger batches, which airlines, which invoices or which payees account for the GH¢16 million.”
“We therefore make no assumption about how the contribution was ultimately applied. We ask government to produce the schedule. Which batches and invoices did the 16 million settle? Who received the money? Was the payment made directly to the airlines, through an intermediary, or as reimbursement to government, or through several transactions? These are accounting questions, and the records should answer them,” he said.
A key issue raised by the MP concerns the relationship between the number of evacuees and the reintegration payments.
He noted that GH¢10.802 million divided by the GH¢5,500 package given to each evacuee produces exactly 1,964 people.
“That creates two ledgers which ought to reconcile: the travel ledger, the unique persons actually moved under the evacuation programme; and the payment ledger, the unique persons who received the GH¢5,500 package. We are not saying today that the two ledgers are different. We are saying Government should produce them so the country can establish that they are the same.”
The Minority at the press conference also sought an update on government’s earlier commitment to pursue compensation and accountability for Ghanaians affected by xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
“This exercise did not begin with accounting. It began because Ghanaians feared for their lives and livelihoods in South Africa. Some lost businesses and properties. Some were assaulted. Ghanaians’ lives were lost,” Asafo-Adjei stated.
He asked how many claims have been registered, what value of properties and business losses have been documented, what formal representations have been made to the South African authorities, what investigations or prosecutions are known to the government, and what the present pathway to compensation or restitution is for the affected citizens.
“Bringing home people was the first duty. Pursuing justice for what happened to them is also part of the state’s responsibility.”
The emergency procurement is still procurement. Nobody disputes that there was an urgent procurement. Agencies may justify exceptional procurement measures. It may justify speed; it may justify emergency or single-source arrangement where the law permits. We are therefore not declaring today that any procurement law was breached. We are asking government to tell the country what procurement method was used for each major flight and service arrangement,” he said.
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
