The Minority on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has refused to attend a meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa over the government’s evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.
The Caucus says it will only engage the Minister after the Foreign Affairs Ministry provides documents detailing how the GH¢49.7 million reportedly spent on the exercise was used.
The government has said the amount covered the evacuation and reintegration of 1,964 Ghanaians who returned from South Africa following xenophobic attacks.
But the Minority says it needs more than the total figure to determine how the money was spent.
It has demanded records covering transportation, accommodation, feeding, medical care, reintegration support, procurement and payments, as well as details of funding sources and contributions from private partners.
The request was submitted on August 17 and received by the Ministry on August 25 under the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989).
The Minority says the requested information remains outstanding, making it unwilling to participate in Wednesday’s closed-door briefing.
“In these circumstances, the Minority does not consider it appropriate to participate in a closed door meeting intended to discuss the same subject matter while its formal request for the underlying expenditure records remains outstanding,” the Caucus said.
It maintained that supporting the evacuation of Ghanaians affected by the attacks does not exempt the government from accounting for public funds.
The Minority is therefore demanding the full expenditure breakdown and supporting documents before it participates in further discussions on the evacuation.
