A fresh scandal has hit the Minister for Foreign Affair, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa following the GH¢49.72 million South Africa evacuation infamy as his outfit has been accused of issuing diplomatic and services passports to undeserved individuals.
While Mr. Ablakwa is still struggling to explained how the GH¢49.72 million (approximately $4.3 million US dollars) was spent on chartered flights, commercial tickets, accommodation, feeding, medical care, local transport, and reintegration packages, this fresh passports issuance episode has rocked the self-acclaimed man of integrity and Chairman of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL).
This followed a revelation and a call by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on the United States to suspend diplomatic courtesies for Ghanaian diplomatic and service passport holders whose documents the party observed were issued irregularly.
The request, contained in a letter dated October 30, 2026, and signed by the NPP General Secretary, Mr. Justin Kodua Frimpong, was addressed to the US Chargé d’Affaires in Ghana, Rolf Olson.
The party is urging the US Mission to investigate six cases involving individuals approved for service passports as officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Fisheries Commission.
According to the NPP, the individuals do not occupy the positions attributed to them in two approval letters issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 6 and 7, 2026.
The party also alleged that two of the positions listed in the letters do not exist.
The August 6 letter approved service passports for three individuals described as NADMO officials: Twumasi Francis Kwame, listed as Deputy Director of Climate Change; Shaibu Alhassan Abu, identified as Director of Hydro; and Gyabaah Anthony, named as Director of Geology.
The NPP, however, noted that the positions are held by other officers, whom it identified as Ebenezer Vandyke, Dr Bertha Kusimi and Bright Atama.
In the second letter, dated August 7, Issah Ayisha, Bennor Yussif and Adom Emmanuel Kwabena were approved for service passports as officials of the Fisheries Commission.
However, the main opposition party claimed the Commission has no position designated as Deputy Director of Aquaculture Specialist or Assistant Finance Manager.
It further pointed out that the position of Deputy Director of Information Technology is occupied by another officer.
The NPP said the discrepancies cast doubt on the eligibility of the beneficiaries, noting that the Ministry’s approval letters specified that the passports were for official use only.
“A passport cannot be for official use where its bearer holds no office that calls for official travel,” the party said.
It added that the approvals, based on the Ministry’s correspondence, “rest on a misdescription of the applicants’ positions, and the passports issued on them are irregular.”
Beyond the six cases, the party is urging the US Mission to strengthen verification procedures for Ghanaian diplomatic and service passports issued from January 7, 2025.
It also called on the Mission to verify passport holders’ official positions directly with the institutions they are said to represent before granting diplomatic courtesies.
Call for suspension and revocation of service passports
The NPP is also demanding that the government suspend passports issued to ineligible persons, publish a full list of diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025, and commission an independent audit of the process.
It has proposed that the Auditor-General or another independent body conduct the audit and make the findings public.
The party further wants passports found to have been issued irregularly revoked and recovered, with individuals implicated in wrongdoing referred for investigation and possible prosecution.
The NPP maintained that the request was made in the national interest and was not intended to disrupt legitimate official travel.
“These matters come against the backdrop of recent incidents that have caused Ghana considerable international embarrassment,” the party said, citing drug seizures linked to consignments from Ghana and romance fraud cases prosecuted abroad.
