The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested a special audit of government-funded emergency evacuation exercises conducted since 2017, seeking an independent assessment of how public funds were managed during operations to bring Ghanaians home from crisis situations abroad.
The request to the Auditor-General comes amid scrutiny over the GH¢49.72 million spent on the recent evacuation of Ghanaian nationals from South Africa following xenophobic attacks.
However, the proposed audit goes beyond the South Africa operation and is expected to cover several major evacuation exercises, including those undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Ukraine crisis in 2022 and the Sudan conflict in 2023.
The Ministry has also asked the Auditor-General to include any other government-funded evacuation exercise considered relevant to the review.
In its request, the Ministry said it wanted a separate assessment of each operation, covering expenditure, findings, observations and recommendations, as well as common issues that could be addressed across the various exercises.
The review is expected to examine the financial and administrative arrangements surrounding the evacuations, while taking into consideration the exceptional circumstances under which the emergency operations were undertaken.
The Ministry’s move follows questions raised by the Minority in Parliament over expenditure associated with the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa.
The government has put the cost of the South Africa operation, including evacuation and related support for affected citizens, at GH¢49.72 million.
In response to a Right to Information request from the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, the Ministry provided a report of more than 200 pages detailing aspects of the South Africa evacuation.
The proposed special audit is therefore expected to provide an independent examination of the spending across the different evacuation exercises rather than focusing solely on the latest operation.
Beyond establishing expenditure and administrative records, the Ministry wants the review to identify lessons that could strengthen its emergency preparedness and internal controls.
The audit could also help establish whether existing procedures for planning, financing and accounting for emergency evacuations are adequate for future crises involving Ghanaian nationals overseas.
The Ministry has assured the Auditor-General of its cooperation and indicated that relevant financial and administrative records would be made available to facilitate the exercise.
The broader review is expected to feed into efforts to strengthen transparency and accountability in the use of public funds during emergency consular operations.
