The closure follows revelations from a special audit report commissioned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
Announcing the decision, Ablakwa stated that the audit uncovered that a local staff member, along with accomplices within the Washington D.C. embassy, had unlawfully collected unapproved fees through an unauthorised link integrated into the embassy’s official website.
The individual in question is also alleged to have diverted funds from visa and passport application processes to a privately owned company he secretly established, using it as a conduit to embezzle public funds, an illegality that reportedly persisted for five years.
“With the firm support of President Mahama, I have carried out the following drastic and decisive actions following the damning findings of a special audit team I put together a couple of months ago to investigate alleged corrupt practices at Ghana’s embassy in Washington DC,’ the minister said in Facebook post on Monday, May 26, 2025.
He continued, “Mr. Kwarteng was a local staff recruited on August 11, 2017 to work in the embassy’s IT department. According to findings and his own admission, he created an unauthorized link on the embassy’s website which diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC) where he charged extra for multiple services on the blind side of the ministry and kept the entire proceeds in his private account.
“His illegal extra charges which were not approved by the ministry and parliament as required under the Fees and Charges Act ranges from US$29.75 to US$60 per applicant. The Investigations reveal that he and his collaborators operated this illegal scheme for at least 5 years. This conduct has been reported to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and retrieval of funds obtained through fraudulent schemes.”
The Minister further announced that, with immediate effect, all Foreign Affairs Ministry personnel assigned to the Washington D.C. embassy have been recalled to Ghana.
In addition, he disclosed a series of drastic measures taken, including the dissolution of the embassy’s IT department and the suspension of all locally recruited staff pending further investigations.
“All Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff posted to the Washington embassy have been recalled home with immediate effect. The embassy’s IT department has been promptly dissolved. All locally recruited staff at the embassy have been suspended,” his post added.
Ablakwa, who also serves as the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, reaffirmed the government’s unwavering commitment, under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama to eradicating corruption that has long plagued the country and its institutions.
Read his post below:
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
