Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has issued a sharp rebuke to Ghana’s former Ambassador to the United States, Hajia Alima Mahama, accusing her of attempting to diminish the gravity of widespread fraud and misconduct uncovered at the Ghana Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The Minister has consistently reiterated the government’s zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and abuse of office. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, June 26, Minister Ablakwa asserted that the government’s decisive actions are based on clear evidence of large-scale corruption, not on speculation or political motives.
“Following the Parliamentary briefings that I conducted last week, the former ambassador has been making some statements and seeking to undermine the measures we have carried out, and peddling a lot of untruths about her conduct in this whole sordid affair,” Ablakwa stated.
Hajia Alima Mahama, who served as Ambassador to the USA prior to the current revelations, has publicly disputed some of the Minister’s claims. Notably, she challenged the figure of $4.8 million that Minister Ablakwa alleged Fred Kwarteng made annually through his illicit activities, stating that such a figure cannot be true. She has also defended the contract between the embassy and GTC for courier services, arguing that the monies collected by GTC were for services rendered and not to the detriment of the state.
However, the Foreign Minister remains resolute. He insisted that a fact-finding mission by senior Ministry officials had exposed a litany of significant breaches of our laws, naked conflict of interest, blatant corruption, and a total lack of internal, financial and managerial control.
“We have provided Parliament with a full report of the fact-finding mission. The levels of corruption and naked conflict of interest we unravelled were so severe that no responsible leadership could ignore them,” he affirmed, signaling the government’s determination to see the investigation through to its conclusion.
The diplomatic mission in Washington D.C. has been embroiled in controversy since a special audit and subsequent investigations revealed a sophisticated scheme leading to significant financial losses. At the heart of the scandal was a locally recruited IT staff member, Fred Kwarteng, who allegedly created an unauthorized online portal that redirected visa and passport applicants to his private company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC).
Through this illicit channel, unapproved fees, ranging from US29.75 to US60, were reportedly collected and deposited directly into Kwarteng’s personal account, bypassing official government channels. This fraudulent operation is believed to have spanned at least five years.
In response to these alarming findings,Samuel okudzeto Ablakwa announced drastic measures, including the temporary closure of the embassy’s visa section on May 26, 2025, to facilitate a comprehensive restructuring and systems overhaul. All diplomatic staff posted to the mission have been recalled, the IT department dissolved, and all locally recruited staff suspended pending further investigations.
Fred Kwarteng was immediately dismissed, and the case has been referred to the Attorney-General for potential prosecution and asset recovery. A full forensic audit by the Auditor-General is also underway to ascertain the total financial loss to the state.
Story: Eugenia Ewoenam Osei
