A major corruption scandal has triggered the temporary shutdown of Ghana’s Embassy in Washington DC, Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has announced.
The drastic move follows damning revelations involving a locally hired staff member, Fred Kwarteng, who was found to have masterminded an elaborate fraud scheme within the embassy’s IT operations.
According to Mr Ablakwa, investigations uncovered that Mr Kwarteng, who joined the embassy on August 11, 2017, illegally embedded a private link on the embassy’s official website. This unauthorized link rerouted visa and passport applicants to a business he owned—Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC)—without the knowledge or approval of the Ministry.
Through this channel, Mr Kwarteng levied additional, unapproved charges ranging between US$29.75 and US$60 per applicant for services that were supposed to be rendered by the embassy. The Foreign Affairs Minister confirmed that these proceeds were kept in Mr Kwarteng’s private account.
“The investigations reveal that he and his collaborators operated this illegal scheme for at least 5 years,” Mr Ablakwa revealed.
In response to the scandal, Mr Kwarteng has been dismissed, and his actions have been referred to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and recovery of all fraudulently acquired funds. The Auditor-General has also been tasked with carrying out a comprehensive forensic audit to assess the full extent of the financial damage caused.
In a sweeping effort to restore integrity and accountability, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken the following steps: all staff posted to the Washington DC embassy have been recalled, the IT department has been dissolved, and every locally recruited employee at the embassy has been suspended.
The Minister acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the disruption and extended apologies to all affected passport and visa applicants.
“President Mahama’s government will continue to demonstrate zero tolerance for corruption, naked conflict of interest and blatant abuse of office,” Mr Ablakwa assured.
