The Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has raised concerns over discrepancies in records covering payments to Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa, questioning claims that all 1,964 beneficiaries received GH¢5,500 each.
Speaking at a press briefing on Sunday, October 18, Miracles Aboagye said his analysis of documents released by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa had revealed inconsistencies in the records of beneficiaries who signed for the payments.
According to him, only 1,001 evacuees signed for the GH¢500 transport allowance, while 1,508 people were recorded as having received that amount.
He further claimed that a comparison of the two payment lists showed that only 824 names appeared on both, raising questions about whether all beneficiaries received the full allowance.
Mr Aboagye argued that the figures did not support the minister’s assertion that every evacuee received GH¢5,500, comprising GH¢5,000 and a GH¢500 transport allowance.
He estimated that about 963 of the 1,964 evacuees had no recorded signatures confirming receipt of the transport component of the payment.
The concerns come after Mr Ablakwa challenged the Minority in Parliament to identify any Ghanaian evacuated from South Africa who did not receive the full allowance.
The Foreign Affairs Minister has dismissed allegations of missing funds, describing them as an attempt to create a scandal.
The dispute has centred on whether the available documentation sufficiently accounts for the payments made to all the evacuees, with Miracles Aboagye insisting that the discrepancies require further clarification.
