The Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament for the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, is demanding a full financial account of Ghana’s evacuation of nationals from South Africa following recent xenophobic attacks.

The Bosome-Freho MP has filed a Right to Information (RTI) request with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seeking details of how much public money has been spent on the exercise since May 2026.

His request follows a statement issued by the Ministry on August 13, 2026, announcing that Ghana had “fully funded the evacuation of our nationals from South Africa following recent xenophobic attacks.”

According to the Ministry, more than 1,600 Ghanaians had been evacuated home from South Africa since May, with the exercise still ongoing.

It also said evacuees were being provided with reintegration funds, transport fares and other relief items upon arrival in Ghana.

But Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh says the Ministry has not disclosed the actual cost of the exercise.

He argues that while government has confirmed that public resources have been committed, there is no public record of the total expenditure, how the money was spent or the source of the funding.

“The cost of the exercise is therefore not on the public record, and Parliament and the taxpaying public have no basis on which to assess it,” he stated in his RTI request.

The MP is asking the Ministry to disclose the total amount spent in both Ghana cedis and US dollars.

He wants a detailed breakdown covering air charters and commercial tickets, ground transportation, accommodation in South Africa, consular and travel documentation, staff costs, reintegration payments and relief items.

He is also seeking invoices, payment vouchers, receipts, contracts, purchase orders, charter agreements and the corresponding approvals for the expenditure.

Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh wants the Ministry to identify the funding sources and state how much was drawn from each.

This includes the Consolidated Fund, Contingency Fund, the Ministry’s 2026 budget allocation, any supplementary appropriation and funds held by the Ghana High Commission in Pretoria.

He is also demanding details of contributions from private sources.

The MP wants the names of all persons, companies and institutions described by the Ministry as “Ghanaian partners”, including the amount or value contributed by each.

He is further seeking information on whether the contributions were in cash or in kind and whether any partner received or is entitled to receive reimbursement or any other consideration from government.

The request also seeks a schedule of every evacuation flight or rotation, including the date, airline or service provider, number of evacuees, cost and whether the flight was chartered or commercial.

The MP wants the Ministry to disclose the procurement method used for each service arrangement and whether contracts were awarded through competitive tendering, restricted tendering, single-source procurement or emergency procurement.

He is also seeking a full account of reintegration support, including the amount approved and actually paid to each eligible evacuee, the total disbursement and the number of beneficiaries.

The quantities and costs of relief items supplied are also part of the request.

Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh says the request is in the public interest because the Ministry has already placed the government’s funding for the evacuation on the public record.

“The supporting figures ought equally to be available to citizens,” he stated.

He has asked the Ministry to provide the information electronically and determine the request within the statutory period under the Right to Information Act, 2019.