Your Head Must Roll -Minority Chase Ablakwa Over GH¢49.7m Evacuation Scandal

The Minority in Parliament has called on the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to resign immediately in order to ensure an impartial investigation into what it describes as grave financial irregularities and suspected corruption in the GHC49.7 million evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.

Speaking at a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, the Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, said the evidence gathered by the Minority regarding how the evacuation funds were handled points to a “well-calculated corruption scheme to siphon public funds”. ‌

“There is no doubt that it is the Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who supervised and/or superintended these grand irregularities, the apparent misapplication of public funds, potential fraud, and acts and omissions which clearly smacks of a well-calculated corruption scheme to siphon public funds” Abu Jinapor noted.

The government claims it evacuated 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa between May 27 and September 4, 2026, following xenophobic attacks. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the exercise cost GHC49,721,786 and that GHC33.7 million of that amount came from the government while an amount of GHC16 million from businessman Ibrahim Mahama’s Engineers and Planners. ‌

New findings suggest documents to support the expenditures had forged signatures of supposed beneficiaries, duplication of names and that the number of evacuees were way below the 1,964 mentioned by government.

The Minority is demanding an independent audit of the entire evacuation exercise by an internationally reputable accounting firm.

It is also calling for Ablakwa’s immediate resignation, citing Section 2.1(j) of President Mahama’s 2025 Code of Conduct, which requires a minister to step down when their leadership actions result in significant failure, corruption or a breach of public trust

The Minority suggests that if Ablakwa refuses to step aside, President John Mahama should terminate his appointment under Article 81(a) of the Constitution.

The statement said if the Minister remains in office, the Minority will consider a parliamentary vote of censure under Article 82 of the Constitution and Order 138 of the Standing Orders.

The Rot Uncovered

After submitting a Right to Information request, the Minority said it found differences between what the Minister told the public and what the payment records showed.

Abu Jinapor said the tall list of discrepancies detected by the Minority includes duplicate entries, payments recorded without signatures, missing receipts, and some evacuees saying they did not receive the allowances recorded against their names. ‌

Independent media investigations, including by JoyNews Research, also found that some of the 1,964 evacuees did not receive their GHC5,000 reintegration allowance or the GHC500 transport allowance. The research team also flagged duplicate names, unsigned payment records, and expenditure without supporting receipts. One evacuee, Kwame Antwi, publicly confirmed he received the GHC5,000 but not the GHC500 transport money. ‌

No Coaching

The Minority’s press conference followed a Monday press briefing by some evacuees who accused opposition members of coaching them to speak against the government.  Abu Jinapor denied this outright.

“Let me place on record that at no point in time did the Minority engage, pay and/or convince any of these evacuees to speak against the Government. Some of these evacuees, learning of what they should have justly been given vis-a-vis what they actually received, decided to speak up voluntarily.

“Indeed, media reports indicate that the Ghana High Commission in Pretoria has inappropriately issued a stern warning to the evacuees not to speak to the media on the matter. If the Ministry and the High Commission have nothing to hide, why are they attempting to gag the evacuees?

“Worst of all, Ladies and Gentlemen, some of these evacuees who were present yesterday when they addressed the Press Conference, admitted on record that they had not received what the Ministry said it had given them, and what they are alleged to have signed for”, Samuel Jinapor stated.

Ablakwa Fights Back

Meanwhile, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has denied any wrongdoing. He insists “not a pesewa is missing” and that the expenditure is fully accounted for. He has also rejected claims that some evacuees were paid only GHC2,000 instead of the GHC5,500 package. ‌

The Ghana High Commission in Pretoria has also admitted to “clerical errors” in the data of 15 evacuees, explaining that passport expiry dates were mistakenly recorded as birth dates. ‌

Okudzeto Ablakwa has maintained that he is not discouraged by the criticism and says he remains committed to his work.