Minority’s evacuation claims are “pure mischief” or a lack of understanding – Ablakwa
The Minority has questioned the GH¢49.7 million spent on the exercise. At a press conference on September 10, it said its own tally of publicly announced figures falls short of the 1,964 evacuees Mr Ablakwa reported at his September 7 briefing, and it asked for documentary evidence.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on October 17, 2026, Mr Ablakwa said the documents were sent from the office of the Chief Director, who spent a whole day trying to deliver hard copies but could not locate the Minority members because Parliament is on recess. To stay within the timelines set by the Right to Information law, her office emailed an electronic version on his instruction.
He said the Minority’s questions about sign-off sheets, including why toddlers appeared to sign, ignored the fact that the allowances and grants were paid for children and that parents signed on their behalf.
“All of Ghana heard that we are providing allowances and grants to children. You say you didn’t hear that and so you see parents signing for children, and then you are asking why toddlers are able to sign? You could just have reverted to the ministry, but they were in a hurry to go out there for political mischief,” the minister said.
He said it’s either the minority didn’t understand the documents or were just out for mischief.
“It’s either pure mischief or a remarkable lack of understanding of the documents presented.”
The Minister said the sign-off sheets are only part of the evidence, noting that the ministry also holds receipts from the airlines that flew evacuees from South Africa to Ghana, including Egypt Air, Air Tanzania and Ethiopian Airlines. These receipts state the number of passengers each flight carried. It also has boarding passes and a flight manifest listing all 1,964 names.
“In addition to receipts, we have boarding passes which are also here. Then we also have the boarding passes here. That’s how diligent we have been,” he said.
As an example, he said the Air Tanzania receipt for July 29, 2026 shows 47 passengers and also itemises hotel, food and transport costs for the transit through Tanzania, along with the number of children on board.
Mr Ablakwa said no airline has come forward to dispute the passenger numbers or to say it was not part of the evacuation.
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