The Majority in Parliament has alleged that the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration facilitated a service passport racketeering scheme at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claiming the practice dates back to 2023.
The Majority alleges that the former administration recruited an individual into the Ministry towards the end of its tenure to enable him to continue his alleged involvement in the irregular issuance of service passports.
Speaking to Citi News, the Vice Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Cletus Dapilah, urged the Minority Caucus to exercise responsibility in its oversight role rather than politicise the ongoing investigations.
Mr Dapilah alleged that the individual was recruited on November 29, 2024, shortly before the NPP government left office, claiming the appointment was intended to preserve his influence within the Ministry. "The NPP is funny. They are funny because you formed a cabal under your watch to perpetuate passport racketeering. Way back in your regime, you had that (name withheld) guy as a goro boy working within Ministry staff… When they were exiting power, they recruited the guy," he said.
He further alleged that the Chief Director's signature on the approval letters was forged by the said individual, stating that preliminary investigation reports available to him reveal this. "As for the signature of the chief director, I can state categorically clear that it was a false signature, and all of this will be on F by the committee," he added.
His comments come amid growing controversy over allegations of the sale and irregular issuance of Ghanaian diplomatic and service passports. The Minority has accused officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Passport Office of facilitating the alleged sale of the travel documents to unqualified individuals, with claims that hundreds of Ghanaians may have travelled abroad using passports obtained through the arrangement.
The allegations have prompted investigations by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, leading to the interdiction of the Acting Director of Passports, Mahama Yahaya Amantana, and Foreign Service Officer Alhassan Sumani.
The two officials have also been referred to the Ghana Police Service for further investigations and possible prosecution.
The Ministry has, however, clarified that its preliminary investigation concerns the alleged irregular issuance of service passports, adding that no evidence has so far emerged to establish that Ghanaian diplomatic passports are being sold. It has identified 10 service passports allegedly issued irregularly and cancelled all of them.
Mr Dapilah also rejected calls by the Minority Caucus for the establishment of an ad hoc parliamentary committee to investigate the matter. According to him, the committee established by the Foreign Affairs Ministry has the mandate and capacity to investigate the allegations and establish the facts surrounding the matter.
This follows a press conference by the Minority on Sunday, November 8, where the Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, presented a dossier of documents and filed a motion for an independent parliamentary inquiry.
Mr Jinapor had argued that the internal committee set up by the Ministry could not be trusted to investigate itself, stressing that "the very people who superintended this rot cannot be the same persons to investigate it."
