The controversy surrounding Ghana's diplomatic and service passports has intensified, with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) exchanging accusations over alleged irregularities. Cletus Seidu Dapalah, Vice Chairperson of Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, accused the previous NPP administration of failing to tackle an alleged service passport racketeering operation dating back to 2023.
According to Mr Dapalah, the scheme involved an intermediary, Alhassan Sumani, with connections within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Passport Application Centre. He alleged that Mr Sumani collected money from a pastor and his wife in exchange for service passports but failed to provide all the promised documents. Mr Dapalah criticised the Minority for allegedly failing to authenticate documents and thoroughly investigate information before presenting it to the public.
The Ministry's spokesperson, Fred Doho, reportedly maintained that the signatures on the documents presented by the Minority as evidence were forged and that the correspondence did not originate from the Ministry. Mr Dapalah insisted that the alleged passport racketeering did not originate under the current administration, but rather during the NPP's period in government. He specifically alleged that Mr Sumani had established connections within the Foreign Affairs Ministry and exploited those relationships to facilitate an organised visa and passport racketeering operation.
The NPP has strongly rejected attempts by the governing administration to characterise the controversy as a longstanding institutional weakness, insisting that individuals implicated in the suspected irregularities must be investigated and held personally accountable where wrongdoing is established. The party's National Communications Director, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, accused the government of attempting to minimise the seriousness of the allegations by describing the matter as a systemic problem.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed that preliminary investigations had identified 10 service passports allegedly issued irregularly to individuals who did not qualify for the documents, with the suspected activities reportedly dating back to 2023. The Ministry indicated that the preliminary findings involved suspected unauthorised payments to an alleged syndicate operating around the passport issuance process. As part of the administrative response, the Acting Director of Passports, Mahama Yahaya Amantana, and Alhassan Sumani were interdicted and referred to the Ghana Police Service for further investigations and possible prosecution.
Mr Aboagye questioned the government's apparent reluctance to treat the matter with the same urgency it had demonstrated in other corruption investigations, arguing that describing the problem as systemic should not exempt individuals suspected of wrongdoing from accountability. He also raised concerns about the potential security implications of the alleged irregular issuance of diplomatic and service passports, claiming that holders of the special travel documents could receive preferential treatment at international airports.
The alleged misuse of passports has raised concerns about the interception of narcotics outside Ghana rather than at the country's airports. The government's response to the scandal will be closely watched, as it seeks to address allegations of corruption and ensure accountability within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Passport Application Centre.
Key points
- The alleged service passport racketeering operation involved an intermediary with connections within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Passport Application Centre.
- Preliminary investigations identified 10 service passports allegedly issued irregularly to individuals who did not qualify for the documents.
- The NPP and NDC have exchanged accusations over who should be held accountable for the alleged irregularities in the issuance of service passports.
