Yahaya Amantana Mahama and Ibrahim Walee
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, of setting up and supervising an alleged passport fraud scheme at the ministry, insisting that the operation did not originate in 2023, as the minister has suggested.
The party’s National Communications Director, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, alleged that the scheme was established under Mr. Ablakwa’s watch and facilitated by senior officials appointed by him, including the Director of Passports, Yahaya Amantana Mahama.
Speaking at the press conference of the Minority in Parliament last Sunday, Mr. Aboagye disputed the minister’s account of the alleged passport irregularities, arguing that the officials recently interdicted could not have been responsible for a scheme dating back to 2023 because they were not occupying their current positions at the time.
He cited Mr. Amantana and a junior officer, Alhassan Sumani, whom the minister had identified as key figures in the alleged operation, as examples of officials who were not in their respective roles in 2023.
According to him, Mr. Sumani was not even an employee of the Foreign Affairs Ministry at the time, while Mr. Amantana was not the Director of Passports.
He, therefore, accused the minister of using the 2023 timeline to deflect attention from the irregularities that occurred under his supervision.
Mr. Aboagye further alleged that Minister Ablakwa appointed Mr. Amantana as Director of Passports despite knowing that he did not meet the requirements for the position.
He claimed that the director subsequently engaged two travel agents, Ibrahim Wale and Bright Owusu, to facilitate the issuance of passports in exchange for payments.
The NPP Communications Director also challenged the minister’s decision to identify Mr. Sumani as a principal architect of the alleged operation, insisting that the junior officer was merely acting on instructions from his superior.
He said the NPP had examined a committee report which, according to him, contained WhatsApp exchanges showing Mr. Amantana instructing Mr. Sumani to facilitate the collection of passport booklets by a travel agent.
He alleged that whenever Mr. Wale arrived at the passport office, the director instructed Mr. Sumani to usher him to the director’s office to collect the booklets.
Miracles Aboagye argued that the evidence pointed to the involvement of senior officials, and questioned why the junior officer was being singled out while investigations were ongoing.
The Minority accused the ministry of failing to provide satisfactory explanations for the alleged sale of diplomatic passports, with prices reportedly ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.
The caucus also called for a full parliamentary inquiry into the matter, arguing that the minister could not be allowed to investigate allegations involving officials operating under his supervision.
Mr. Aboagye reiterated the NPP’s support for the Minority’s demand, calling on the Speaker of Parliament to facilitate a full parliamentary investigation.
He maintained that the minister’s decision to establish an internal committee was inadequate, given that the allegations concerned officials within the ministry he supervised.
On the alleged involvement of diplomatic passports, Mr. Aboagye said the Minority had identified 24 passport booklets and four diplomatic passports in connection with its concerns.
He questioned how the minister could confidently state that no diplomatic passports were involved if, as he maintained, the alleged operation had been conducted without his knowledge.
The NPP director also accused Mr. Ablakwa of misleading the public by presenting a list of cancelled service passports as evidence of illegal passports uncovered during the ministry’s investigations.
He said the list had been published by the minister in May 2025 and contained the names of individuals who had failed to return service passports after they were no longer entitled to retain them.
Mr. Aboagye further disputed the minister’s suggestion that the current investigation stemmed from complaints dating back to 2023.
He said the only petition the minister was relying on was submitted by a pastor and his wife on October 8, 2026.
According to him, the couple complained that they had paid money to obtain service passports and American visas but had received the passports without the promised US visas.
He said the couple subsequently demanded either the delivery of the visas or a refund of their money.
Mr. Aboagye maintained that the complaint concerned transactions in 2026 and not an alleged scheme operating since 2023.
He warned that the passport controversy was only one of several issues the NPP intended to raise about the Foreign Affairs Ministry, promising further disclosures in the coming days.
He said the party had documentary and electronic evidence to support its concerns and would continue to work with the Minority Caucus to demand accountability.
By Ernest Kofi Adu