Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has announced a sweeping shake-up at the country’s embassy in Washington DC following damning revelations of a large-scale visa and passport fraud scheme perpetrated over a five-year period.
According to a statement posted on the Minister’s official Facebook page, the scandal involves Mr. Fred Kwarteng, a local staff member of the embassy’s IT department, who was found to have created an unauthorised online platform that diverted visa and passport applicants to his private company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC).
Through this illicit channel, applicants were charged unauthorised fees ranging from US$29.75 to US$60 — proceeds that were reportedly pocketed by Mr. Kwarteng and his collaborators.
“This conduct has been reported to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and retrieval of funds obtained through fraudulent schemes,” the Minister disclosed.
In response, Minister Ablakwa has dismissed Mr. Kwarteng with immediate effect and recalled all Foreign Affairs Ministry staff posted to the Washington mission. The embassy’s IT department has been dissolved, all locally recruited staff suspended, and the Auditor-General has been invited to conduct a forensic audit of all related transactions.
To facilitate a full systems overhaul, the embassy will temporarily close for a few days starting today.
President John Mahama’s administration, the Minister noted, remains committed to a “zero tolerance” policy on corruption, conflict of interest, and abuse of office.
