Foreign Ministry seeks special audit of Ghana’s overseas evacuations since 2017
The proposed review will examine the costs and management of emergency operations in COVID-19-hit countries, Ukraine, Sudan and South Africa.
Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested a special audit of public funds spent on emergency evacuations of Ghanaian nationals from overseas since 2017.
The proposed review would cover the financial and administrative arrangements behind the operations and examine how money was used for transportation, accommodation, logistics, consular services, medical care and psychosocial support.
In a letter dated September 17 2026, the ministry asked the Office of the Auditor-General to independently assess four named operations: the COVID-19 evacuation in 2020, Ukraine in 2022, Sudan in 2023 and South Africa in 2026.
It also invited the Auditor-General to include any other evacuation exercise considered relevant.
The ministry said the operations were often organised at short notice and required urgent coordination involving Ghana’s diplomatic missions and other state institutions.
“Given their scale and complexity and in furtherance of the principles of transparency, accountability and good governance, the Ministry considers it most appropriate to invite the Office of the Auditor-General to conduct an independent special audit of all evacuation exercises,” the letter said.
No total expenditure for the operations was disclosed in the document.
The ministry has requested a separate assessment of each exercise, including its cost, findings, observations and recommendations.
It also wants the audit to identify common problems across the evacuation operations and recommend measures to improve Ghana’s handling of future emergencies.
According to the ministry, the review is intended to determine how public funds were used while taking account of the exceptional and urgent circumstances under which the evacuations were conducted.
It said the findings should help strengthen accountability, improve internal controls and better prepare the country to respond when Ghanaian citizens face danger abroad.
The ministry assured the Auditor-General of its cooperation and said it would make available all relevant financial and administrative records it was able to produce.
The request marks the beginning of the proposed review process. The material supplied does not indicate whether the Auditor-General has formally accepted the request or provide a timetable for the audit.
It also does not disclose the number of people evacuated during each operation or whether the request was prompted by any specific allegation of financial wrongdoing.
Emergency evacuations can require governments to make rapid spending decisions as they arrange flights, accommodation and support for citizens caught in conflict, public health emergencies or other crises.
The proposed audit is expected to test whether expenditure on Ghana’s operations was properly documented and managed, while identifying lessons for future interventions.