A photo collage of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Hajia Alima Mahama
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has accused Ghana’s former Ambassador to the U.S., Hajia Alima Mahama, of enabling and legitimising acts of corruption at the Ghana Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, June 26, 2025, Ablakwa stated that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) is investigating the matter and warned that the former ambassador would not escape accountability.
He insisted that the former ambassador’s attempt to discredit the ministry’s fact-finding mission and downplay the magnitude of corruption uncovered is both “shocking and condemnable.”
“We have provided Parliament with a full report of the fact-finding mission. The levels of corruption and naked conflict of interest we uncovered were absolutely egregious. No responsible leadership, when confronted with such rot, would choose to look the other way,” he stated.
According to the Minister, the scandal dates back to 2019, when Fred Kwarteng, a locally recruited IT staff member at the embassy, unilaterally created an unauthorised link on the embassy’s official website.
This link, Ablakwa revealed, diverted nearly 99% of all visa and passport application traffic to a private company—Travel Ghana Secure Data Centre—owned by Kwarteng himself.
He disclosed that embassy officials first became aware of the breach on November 19, 2019, and issued a query letter the same day.
In his written response, Fred Kwarteng admitted to altering the visa application process to include the use of a travel agent, a move he described as a “pilot project” aimed at easing operational challenges.
However, Ablakwa argued that such actions were unauthorised and violated procurement laws.
“What is worse is that instead of putting an end to this illegality, Ambassador Alima Mahama, in 2023, signed a contract with the same Fred Kwarteng to legitimise his operations,” he noted.
Ablakwa added that the contract, which took effect on January 1, 2023, astonishingly has no termination clause or specified duration.
“How does an ambassador sign such a sweetheart deal with a staff member who had already been accused of undermining the state’s interest?” he queried. “This is a classic case of naked conflict of interest.”
He emphasized that EOCO is already investigating the matter and warned that justice would soon catch up with the former ambassador.
“I can understand why she’s desperately moving from one radio station to another—because she knows she’s really in hot waters. The ongoing EOCO investigations will soon catch up with her. But she should not be peddling falsehoods, she should not distort what the fact-finding team discovered, and she should not downplay the gravity of the infractions and breaches at stake in this matter.”
“This is a new era. It is a reset. We will not condone corruption or look the other way. We did not obtain the mandate of the Ghanaian people to watch individuals enrich themselves at the expense of the state,” he concluded.
Hajia Alima Mahama, however, has rejected the allegations, insisting that the contract with Kwarteng’s company was legal and that no money was lost by the state.
“I don’t know where he [Ablakwa] got his calculations from. It can’t be true,” she said. “Ghana isn’t involved financially. It’s a private courier arrangement,” she explained.
Her account, however, contradicts that of Kofi Tonto, a former Head of Information and Public Affairs at the Ghanaian Embassy in Washington. Tonto, who has publicly supported Ablakwa’s version of events, described Fred Kwarteng as a “bad boy” and disclosed that he personally investigated Kwarteng, who allegedly attempted to bribe him.
Despite the rebuttal from Hajia Alima Mahama, Ablakwa insisted that the ministry stands by its findings and will not be deterred.
“We will not be complicit. We will not, by dereliction, encourage such terrible conduct that destroys the reputation of Ghana’s foreign service,” Ablakwa declared.
Meanwhile, Fred Kwarteng has denied allegations of financial impropriety and abuse of office, insisting that his actions were transparent and delivered tangible benefits to Ghanaians both in the United States and at home.
JKB/KA
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