The 2024 presidential candidate of the People’s National Party (PNP), Janet Nabla has joined growing calls for accountability over the government’s expenditure on the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa, insisting that the money used was taxpayers’ funds and not NDC party dues.
She said Ghanaians therefore deserve a full account of how the reported GH¢49.7 million was spent during the evacuation exercise.
“When they rejected the money, they should have told us that they are going to use NDC dues for the evacuation,” she said.
“They went ahead to use taxpayers’ money, and now we’re asking for a breakdown, and we’re not getting it, and that is the case.”
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Janet Nabla questioned the government’s decision to reject a GH¢20 million donation from MTN towards the response to the xenophobic attacks, arguing that the funds could have been used for other pressing national needs.
“I was surprised when the Minister for Foreign Affairs rejected 20 million,” she said.
She questioned why the government would turn down the donation and subsequently spend a significantly larger amount of public money on the evacuation.
“Why won’t they take the 20 million and still use taxpayers’ money to evacuate people?” she questioned.
According to her, the GH¢20 million could have benefited Ghanaians, particularly amid challenges confronting the education sector.
“They didn’t ask Ghanaians whether we wanted the money or not. We could have benefitted from this money. Look at what is happening in our SHSs,” she said.
Janet Nabla also cited what she described as Nigeria’s approach to the evacuation of its citizens, arguing that Ghana could have explored a similar option in dealing with the South African authorities.
She said Nigerian authorities did not use taxpayers’ money for the evacuation and questioned whether Ghana could also have sought support or compensation from South Africa over the harm suffered by Ghanaians during the attacks.
Her comments come after Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa disclosed on September 7, 2026, that the government had spent GH¢49.7 million to evacuate 1,964 Ghanaians from South Africa.
The expenditure has since come under scrutiny, with the Minority in Parliament demanding a detailed breakdown of the cost and documentary evidence to support the figures.
Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, has also questioned discrepancies between the number of evacuees reported by Ghanaian authorities and figures from South Africa’s Border Management Authority.
Janet Nabla said the government must provide the necessary details to account to the public, stressing that the funds involved belong to Ghanaians.
She criticised what she described as a recurring failure by state institutions to provide expenditure figures that can be properly reconciled.
“State institutions never give breakdowns that add up. They should bring it because it is not NDC dues. It is taxpayers’ money, and we need accountability,” she stressed.
She therefore insisted that the government must release the full details of the evacuation expenditure.
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