The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has raised serious concerns over GHS 27,183,700 spent on chartered flights during the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa, describing the sum as more than half the total cost and unsupported by invoices or contracts.
According to NPP National Communications Director Dennis Miracles Aboagye, the figure represents 55 per cent of the overall GHS 49,721,786 expended in the name of 1,964 Ghanaians who fled xenophobic violence.
The party says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ own documents, released through a Right to Information response and a report to Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, contain no invoices, no contracts and no name of the operator—only a statement that the flights were arranged.
Aboagye said information available to the NPP indicates that the first three charter flights were operated by Ethiopian Airlines and arranged through a Mr Vanderpuye.
“The minister’s documents put the cost of each flight at USD 750,000. With three flights carrying about 900 passengers, that equates to roughly USD 2,500 per seat from South Africa to Ghana.
Industry checks cited by the party place the maximum realistic cost of similar charters from Ethiopian Airlines or Air Tanzania at between USD 180,000 and USD 300,000 per flight. The NPP therefore alleges that each of the three flights may have been billed nearly USD 300,000 above its true cost,” he said.
The NPP has called on Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to publish the original Ethiopian Airlines invoices for all three flights and explain why invoices for flights flown months earlier were reportedly requested to be reissued only last month.
The party further questioned why full details of every flight and payment have not emerged from the Ghana High Commission in Pretoria, and sought clarification on separate allegations involving USD 10,000 of state funds said to have been linked to the minister’s bodyguard.
Aboagye stressed that emergency conditions explain urgency but do not excuse the absence of receipts.
“Emergency explains the urgency. It does not excuse the missing receipts,” the statement said.
The NPP has given the minister seven days to produce the complete set of charter invoices and contracts, name the operator and show how it was selected under the Public Procurement Act, among other demands.
The opposition maintains that public money is accounted for through documents—invoices, receipts, contracts and payment vouchers—not explanations or presentations.
It has pledged to pursue the matter on the floor of Parliament, petition the Auditor-General and keep the questions before the public until the records are produced.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
