The government has temporarily shut down the country’s embassy in Washington, D.C.,following a disturbing corruption scandal that has rocked the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Foreign Minister and North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced the decision on Monday, May 26, 2025, after receiving a damning report from a special audit team he commissioned months ago to investigate suspected wrongdoing at the embassy. The findings, he said, were not only alarming but deeply disappointing.
At the center of the scandal is Fred Kwarteng, a locally recruited IT staff member who has worked at the embassy since 2017. Kwarteng admitted to setting up a secret link on the embassy’s website that redirected visa and passport applicants to his own private business, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC). Through this backdoor channel, he charged applicants between $29.75 and $60 for services, charges never approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Parliament, as required by Ghana’s laws.
“All these extra charges went straight into his personal bank account,” Ablakwa revealed, calling it an elaborate scheme that defrauded the public for at least five years. The illegal operation was carried out without the knowledge of the ministry, and certainly without any accountability.
The foreign minister described the situation as a gross abuse of office and an insult to public trust. As a result, the embassy’s entire IT department has been dissolved, and all locally hired staff have been suspended while investigations continue. All ministry staff posted to the Washington DC mission have also been recalled to Accra.
To ensure a full and independent investigation, the Auditor-General has been called in to conduct a forensic audit of the embassy’s operations and finances. Meanwhile, the conduct of Mr. Kwarteng and his alleged collaborators has been referred to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and recovery of the stolen funds.
In explaining the decision to temporarily close the embassy, Minister Ablakwa said, “These radical measures are necessary to allow for a complete systems overhaul. We deeply regret any inconvenience caused to Ghanaians and other applicants, but this is a sacrifice we must make to clean up our institutions.”
He reaffirmed the Mahama administration’s commitment to fighting corruption at every level, adding, “President Mahama’s government will continue to demonstrate zero tolerance for corruption, naked conflict of interest and blatant abuse of office.”
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:
— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) May 26, 2025
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