'Voodoo Analysis!' – Ablakwa takes on Minority over GH¢49m SA evacuation claims

Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has criticised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority in Parliament over its analysis of the GH¢49.7 million spent on the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa, describing its findings as “voodoo analysis”.

He questioned the figures presented by the Minority, arguing that its report contained inconsistencies in the number of evacuees, particularly children, who allegedly received transportation and reintegration allowances.

Speaking during a media engagement, Ablakwa challenged the Minority to explain discrepancies in its report, insisting that the government had provided records to account for the expenditure.

“What kind of voodoo analysis is this?” he asked, while disputing the Minority’s claim that 442 minors received the allowances.

According to the minister, the Minority’s own report indicated that only 247 Ghanaians returned through commercial flights, yet it counted 442 minors among those who received the allowances through that arrangement.

“If the total number is 247, how come you counted 442 minors? I mean, what’s going on here? What kind of voodoo analysis is this?” he asked.

Ablakwa said the inconsistencies raised questions about the verification process used by the Minority, particularly given its claims of having conducted a painstaking, diligent, independent and third-party verification of the expenditure.

He also criticised the NPP Minority for accusing him of avoiding accountability, insisting that the government had made records available to support its expenditure claims.

“This is what you use to assail my character, to engage in character assassination, and there are people all over the place saying that I’m running away from accountability. From where?” he said.

Ablakwa explains GH¢49.7m expenditure

The minister explained that although the total cost of the evacuation exercise was GH¢49.7 million, the direct contribution from the government was GH¢33.7 million.

He said the remaining GH¢16 million mentioned in the discussion was a donation from Engineers and Planners, owned by businessman Ibrahim Mahama.

Ablakwa said the expenditure covered flight tickets, medical treatment and hospitalisation, transportation and reintegration allowances, as well as the repatriation and autopsy of two deceased Ghanaians.

He explained that the transportation and reintegration allowances were calculated using the number of beneficiaries and the amount paid to each person.

According to him, 1,964 evacuees received GH¢5,500 each as allowances, amounting to approximately GH¢10.8 million.

The minister added that GH¢84,000 was spent on the repatriation and autopsy of the two deceased persons.

Minority alleges GH¢16.4m gap in Ablakwa's GH¢49.7m SA evacuation bill, demands audit

He also said about 47 evacuees fell ill and required medical care in South Africa and Ghana, accounting for part of the medical and hospitalisation expenses.

Rejects claims of duplication in allowance payments

Ablakwa further defended the government's records, explaining that the sign-off sheets for transportation and reintegration allowances were prepared separately.

He said the names of beneficiaries did not necessarily appear in the same order on both lists because evacuees signed the documents in queues and at different times.

Using an example, he said a beneficiary identified as Joshua appeared as number nine on the transportation allowance list but as number 225 on the reintegration allowance list.

According to him, the difference in the numbering did not mean that the records were duplicated or that different people had received the payments.

“You just have to go through the document and you find every name. It may not necessarily be aligned. It’s not duplication,” he said.

The minister added that the payments were made openly at the airport, where bloggers and other observers were present.

He further maintained that no evacuee had denied receiving both the transportation and reintegration allowances, nor had any complained that they were unaware children were entitled to the support.

Compares South Africa evacuation to COVID-19 exercise

Ablakwa also questioned the Minority’s characterisation of the GH¢49.7 million evacuation cost as exceptionally high, comparing it with the expenditure incurred during Ghana’s COVID-19 evacuation exercise.

He said records at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed that the COVID-19 evacuation exercise cost the Ghanaian taxpayer GH¢96.97 million.

According to him, the state incurred GH¢44 million in quarantine-related expenses during that exercise, despite most Ghanaians paying for their own air tickets and quarantine costs.

He said the COVID-19 evacuation did not include reintegration and transportation allowances of the kind provided to the returnees from South Africa.

“Ghanaians paid for their own quarantine and then paid for the COVID test, and yet GH¢96.9 million,” he said.

Ablakwa questioned why the Minority had criticised the GH¢49.7 million expenditure without adequately considering the costs associated with the earlier evacuation exercise.

He, however, acknowledged the importance of an audit, saying the government would await its findings.

“That is why I’m saying that an audit is important, and we will see how things go after this audit,” he said.

The claims by the Minority:

The Minority Caucus, led by the Member of Parliament for Bosome-Freho, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, had called for an independent audit of the GH¢49.72 million expenditure, alleging discrepancies between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ records and the number of evacuees reported to have returned to Ghana.

At a press conference on October 11, 2026, Mr Ayeh said the Caucus had identified gaps in the payment registers and flight records contained in documents provided by the ministry in response to a Right to Information (RTI) request.

According to the Minority’s analysis, only 824 names could be matched across the registers for the GH¢5,000 reintegration grant and GH¢500 transportation allowance, despite the government’s claim that 1,964 Ghanaians had been evacuated.

The Caucus also said it had identified records for 926 passengers on chartered flights and 247 on commercial flights, bringing the total to 1,173 and leaving 791 evacuees whose travel records it said it could not reconcile from the documents provided. It further raised concerns about alleged duplicate entries, blank and unsigned records, and 442 minors listed in the reintegration register.

The Minority estimated that GH¢16.42 million of the total expenditure required further explanation and called for an independent audit by a reputable accounting firm, with the findings made public.

Ayeh maintained that the exercise was necessary to establish whether the expenditure and the reported number of evacuees could be reconciled with the supporting documents.

BAI

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