A photo collage of Afia Pokua, popularly known as Vim Lady and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Ghanaian media personality Afia Pokua, popularly known as Vim Lady, has criticised the Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa over the recent closure of Ghana’s Embassy in Washington, D C, citing alleged corrupt practices.
According to Afia Pokua, the minister acted wrongly by shutting down the embassy without conducting proper investigations to substantiate his corruption claims.
Speaking on her Gyaso Gyaso show on Okay FM on June 9, 2025, she argued that there was no corruption at the embassy. Rather, the only issue identified by a committee from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was a conflict of interest, which, in her view, did not justify the closure or the public embarrassment it brought.
She accused Ablakwa of acting out of a desire for social media popularity, claiming his actions were illegal and politically irresponsible.
Referring to Ablakwa’s own vetting process, during which he was accused of corruption for allegedly living in a luxury home at Airport Hills, Vim Lady recalled how many defended him due to the lack of evidence.
She expressed disappointment that the same Ablakwa was now accusing others of corruption without due process.
“Kudos to President Mahama. The NDC government is in its sixth month, but most of the ministers are already under pressure. If they’re not careful, they will disgrace President Mahama,” she warned.
Vim Lady dismissed Ablakwa’s justification that the embassy was closed due to corruption and pointed out that staff had now been brought in from Ghana’s New York Mission to assist operations in Washington.
“There was a legitimate contract signed between the Ghana Embassy and the company in question. They are lying, there was no corruption. For the minister to sack people based on that is unacceptable. He should be sued,” she stated.
“You went through vetting, and people accused you of corruption because you lived in Airport Hills. We all defended you. What you wouldn’t want others to do to you, don’t do to them.”
She explained that the former Ambassador, Hajia Alima Mahama, had signed a contract with a private company to handle mailing services for embassy applicants.
While the committee from the Foreign Affairs Ministry found that an employee of the embassy had a personal interest in the company, there was a valid contract in place.
Vim Lady stressed that a conflict-of-interest issue does not automatically equate to corruption.
“Even if there was a breach of contract terms, you cancel the contract. That doesn’t mean there was corruption.”
She accused Ablakwa of politicising the issue and using social media for propaganda, which, in her opinion, could damage the image of the current administration.
“This over-politicization of every issue is dangerous. You have rushed into a decision and gotten it wrong. We stood by you when you were falsely accused, and now you’re doing the same to others without evidence…what you are doing you will disgrace President Mahama. You have dismissed people unjustly,” she added.
The facility was shut down on Monday, May 26, 2025, following a purported corruption scandal involving the Embassy’s visa department.
A local IT worker is alleged to have transferred Embassy monies into a personal account, Ablakwa disclosed in a Facebook post.
This link redirected applicants for visa and passport services to his private company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC), where unapproved fees ranging from $29.75 to $60 were charged and deposited into his personal account. Investigations suggest this scheme operated undetected for at least five years.
In response to the scandal, all Foreign Affairs Ministry staff posted to the Washington D C embassy were recalled to Accra.
The embassy’s IT department was dissolved, and all locally recruited staff were suspended pending further investigation.
However, the facility has been opened to the public.
AM/KA
