Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, has accused the Minority of preventing Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, from appearing before the committee to explain the GH¢49.72 million spent on evacuating Ghanaians from South Africa.

According to him, the Minority insisted on receiving documents detailing the expenditure before the minister could be invited to brief the committee but failed to return with specific concerns after the information was provided.

Majority fires back at Minority over GH¢49.7m South Africa evacuation

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Vanderpuije said the committee had initially postponed the minister’s appearance to allow the Minority to examine the documents.

“Yes, the Minority said they will not sit to listen to the minister. They want to receive the information first. So, we respected that. We postponed the meeting,” he said.

His comments follow the Minority’s continued demand for Ablakwa’s resignation and its threat to initiate a censure motion against him over alleged discrepancies in the evacuation expenditure.

Vanderpuije said he expected the Minority to review the documents and return with specific questions for the minister, who was willing to appear before the committee.

“As chair of the committee, I was expecting that when the minister has provided the information, and they have looked at it, if they have any problems, they would have come back to me and say, ‘Look, we have the information; we’ve looked at it, but we need the minister to come and explain certain things to us,” he said.

He argued that the Minority’s failure to follow that process had denied both sides of the committee the opportunity to question the minister and examine the expenditure.

The committee chairman also criticised the Deputy Ranking Member for publicly raising allegations against Ablakwa before the committee had completed its work.

“He should have allowed the process of the committee to continue so that we would have all had the opportunity, both sides, Majority and Minority, to have the minister there,” he said.

Vanderpuije added that the Majority had also reviewed the documents but had not identified the discrepancies being alleged by the Minority.

“So, we, the Majority, also have to look at the information, and we came back, and we said, look, all what you are saying, we have not seen it,” he said.

He further disclosed that the minister had agreed for the expenditure records to be referred to the Auditor-General for an independent examination.

“The Auditor-General will look at it, and the Auditor-General will come back and tell all of Ghana what he found,” Vanderpuije said.

He maintained that the Auditor-General’s findings should guide further discussions on the matter, questioning the Minority’s demand for the minister’s resignation before the relevant investigative processes had been completed.

NA/VPO