Dr Joshua Zaato has criticised what he described as the governing National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) argument that bringing Ghanaians home from South Africa should end scrutiny of the evacuation exercise.
The Senior Fellow at Africa Policy Lens and Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana said the successful return of citizens could not excuse possible financial irregularities or failures in the management of the operation.
Speaking on TV3’s New Day, hosted by Roland Walker, Zaato argued that the government’s humanitarian justification did not answer questions about how the exercise was conducted and how public funds were accounted for.
He said the position appeared to suggest that the outcome should take precedence over the process, regardless of whether there had been mistakes or financial losses.
“The NDC is telling us that so long as we have brought the people from South Africa to Ghana, case closed. Everything, that is the end,” he said.
Zaato rejected that reasoning, arguing that the return of the evacuees could not automatically validate every decision made during the exercise.
“Forget about the process, forget about the corruption and alleged corruptions, forget about the financial manipulation and forget all that. We have brought Ghanaians from South Africa to Ghana,” he said, describing the argument as a “lazy position”.
He maintained that the government must account for the process used to evacuate the citizens, including the management of the money involved.
Zaato said the authorities should be held to a higher standard and provide satisfactory explanations for the concerns raised over the exercise.
“Those who came bearing gifts today, we must demand better from them and make sure that in that gift, in that flattery of gifts, there are not issues of corruption,” he said.
He argued that treating the evacuation as a closed matter because the citizens had returned would weaken accountability in the management of public resources.
