The Majority members on the Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, has come to the defense of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, stressing he did not err in temporarily shutting down the Ghana Embassy in Washington DC.
According to the majority they would not allow self-seeking individuals to tarnish the image of the country under the guise of the alleged fraudulent acts committed in its embassies.
At a media briefing in Accra yesterday, Mr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, a ranking member of the committee, stated that the closure of the embassy as a result of the corrupt practices should rather be seen as a step in the right direction since it sends a strong warning to staff of the other embassies and missions.
He indicated that the resetting agenda of government under President John Dramani Mahama could not be achieved if the country’s diplomatic facilities were allowed to be used inappropriately.
Mr Vanderpuije noted that after the planned maintenance and proper auditing the embassy would be opened again.
He urged the Minister to take steps to weed out the bad nuts in all its embassies abroad in order to reclaim the country’s image which had been seriously damaged.
Ghana’s embassy in Washington, D.C. was closed down temporarily to allow for investigations into alleged corrupt practices carried out by a staff of the embassy on Monday, May 26, 2025.
The corrupt practices, including illegal extra charges, which had been occurring for nearly five years, were uncovered by a special audit team who assembled a few months ago to investigate alleged corrupt practices at the embassy.
A statement issued under the hand of Mr Ablakwa said all staff members posted to the Washington embassy had been recalled immediately whilst the embassy’s IT department has been promptly dissolved.
The statement mentioned that Mr Fred Kwarteng, a staff member from the embassy’s IT department, has been dismissed for creating an unauthorised section on the embassy’s website that diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC).
“The illegal extra charges, which were not approved by the ministry and Parliament as required under the Fees and Charges Act, range from $29.75 to $60 per applicant. Investigations reveal that he and his collaborators operated this illegal scheme for at least five years.
BY LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU
