The Minority has insisted that the Foreign Affairs Minister’s recent disclosure on the evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa cannot replace information formally requested under the Right to Information Act.
Responding to questions during the Minority’s press briefing, Member of Parliament for Bosome Freho, Honourable Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, who also serves as Deputy Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, explained that the RTI process carries its own statutory procedures for obtaining answers from public institutions. He indicated that the Minority would rely on the provisions of the law to pursue outstanding responses from the Ministry.
Honourable Ayeh noted that the RTI Commission has mechanisms for setting timelines for responses and providing remedies when information requested by an applicant remains outstanding. Consequently, he argued that a subsequent press briefing by the Minister cannot automatically extinguish a request already lodged under the law.
“Under the RTI Act, Act 989, the Commission sets its own roadmap. It gives ultimatums for when questions will be answered and provides remedies for when questions are not answered. Nothing the Minister has done or put out would negate the request inherent in the RTI.”
Honourable Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh
Furthermore, the Bosome Freho MP indicated that the Minority intends to pursue every applicable provision under the legislation to secure the information it originally requested. He stressed that the group would continue pressing for a formal response instead of treating publicly released figures as a substitute for the statutory process.
Turning to claims that the evacuation was previously discussed by Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Honourable Ayeh expressed uncertainty about when such a briefing might have occurred. He explained that he attended committee meetings consistently but could not recall any substantive engagement on the evacuation exercise or the South Africa situation.
According to the Deputy Ranking Member, committee records from the beginning of the Ninth Parliament could be examined to establish whether the matter has formally come before members. He therefore suggested that the relevant reports could provide an objective basis for determining whether the committee had received any briefing from the Ministry.
Additionally, Honourable Ayeh indicated that members often encountered developments concerning the evacuation through public information channels. He noted that committee members could sometimes learn about matters through online reports or updates published by the Minister before receiving any formal briefing at committee level.
Meanwhile, the Minority has held back from immediately demanding a parliamentary probe into the expenditure. Honourable Ayeh explained that the group would first await the Minister’s response to the RTI request before determining whether further parliamentary action would become necessary.
He indicated that once the requested information arrives, the Minority would compare the Ministry’s figures with its own documents and identify any areas requiring clarification. Any unresolved discrepancies, he added, could then inform discussions within the committee or the Minority Caucus on the appropriate next step.
Minority Questions Rejected Proposal
The Minority has questioned the Foreign Affairs Minister’s decision to reject proposed GH¢20 million support from MTN for Ghanaians affected by the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Member of Parliament for Bosome Freho, Honourable Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh argued that inconsistencies surrounding the timing of the proposed support require further explanation. He particularly questioned the sequence of communication between MTN and the Foreign Affairs Ministry over the proposed assistance.
Honourable Ayeh explained that the Minister’s account indicated that MTN communicated its intention to provide GH¢20 million on the 14th and that the proposal was subsequently rejected. However, he noted that the company later publicly announced the intended support, creating uncertainty over whether the rejection was communicated before that announcement.
“If he did that, then why would the CEO or the institution come out again on the 20th or 26th and announce something that the Minister claimed in his press statement was rejected prior? It really does not add up for us.”
Honourable Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh
Honourable Ayeh drew attention to the experiences of Ghanaian traders and business owners who operated restaurants, boutiques and barber shops in South Africa before being forced to return home. He therefore questioned whether the reported GH¢5,000 reintegration support could adequately address the losses suffered by people whose businesses and livelihoods had been disrupted.
Furthermore, the Ranking Member challenged the basis on which the GH¢20 million proposal might have been rejected if its intended purpose involved supporting the affected victims. He questioned whether the 1,964 evacuees had been consulted about the proposed assistance and whether they had consented to its rejection.
The Minority, he explained, has not been provided with sufficient information to establish whether such consultation occurred. Honourable Ayeh therefore called for greater clarity on the principles guiding decisions over external assistance intended for evacuees and other affected citizens.
Additionally, he argued that financial support for victims should be assessed against the scale of the losses they endured. In his view, returning citizens to Ghana addressed the immediate safety challenge, but reintegration also requires consideration of the economic difficulties confronting those whose livelihoods were disrupted.
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