Ghana's embassy in Washington, D.C., has been temporarily shut down after an investigation found that staff members were collecting illegal extra charges for at least five years.
The country's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, posted about the probe on Facebook on Monday, calling his actions "drastic and decisive
Why It Matters
Some 172,558 Ghanaians live in the United States, according to 2023 figures published in the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.
Many of them will rely on the Washington embassy for passport services, visa services, citizenship matters and emergency assistance.
Besides not having traditional access to these services for a few days, some of these people may have fallen victim to the corruption scheme uncovered.
What To Know
Okudzeto Ablakwa's special audit team found that a local staff member, Fred Kwarteng, who worked for the embassy's IT department was running a fraudulent scheme.
He "created an unauthorized link on the embassy's website which diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC) where he charged extra for multiple services on the blind side of the ministry and kept the entire proceeds in his private account," Okudzeto Ablakwa said.
Kwarteng and "his collaborators" carried out this scheme for at least five years, Okudzeto Ablakwa said, citing "findings" and Kwarteng's "own admission."
After the investigation, all Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff posted to the Washington embassy were recalled home, the embassy's I.T. department was dissolved and the embassy has been "closed for a few days."
Okudzeto Ablakwa said the closure would remain in place until Ghana finalizes an "ongoing restructuring and systems overhaul."
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
With the firm support of President Mahama, I have carried out the following drastic and decisive actions following the damming findings of a special audit team i put together a couple of months ago to investigate alleged corrupt practices at Ghana’s embassy in Washington DC:
1) The immediate dismissal of Mr. Fred Kwarteng.
Mr. Kwarteng was a local staff recruited on August 11, 2017 to work in the embassy’s IT department. According to findings and his own admission, he created an unauthorized link on the embassy’s website which diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC) where he charged extra for multiple services on the blind side of the ministry and kept the entire proceeds in his private account. His illegal extra charges which were not approved by the ministry and parliament as required under the Fees and Charges Act ranges from US$29.75 to US$60 per applicant. The Investigations reveal that he and his collaborators operated this illegal scheme for at least 5 years.
This conduct has been reported to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and retrieval of funds obtained through fraudulent schemes.
2) All Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff posted to the Washington embassy have been recalled home with immediate effect.
3) The embassy’s IT department has been promptly dissolved.
4) All locally recruited staff at the embassy have been suspended.
5) The Auditor-General has been invited to conduct forensic examination of all transactions and to determine the total cost of this elaborate fraudulent scheme.
6) Ghana’s embassy in Washington DC shall be closed for a few days from today as we finalize the ongoing restructuring and systems overhaul.
Any inconvenience these radical measures may cause visa and passport applicants is regretted.
President Mahama’s government will continue to demonstrate zero tolerance for corruption, naked conflict of interest and blatant abuse of office.
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