The Ghana Embassy located in Washington, D.C. is anticipated to resume full consular and administrative services today, May 29.
In a prior announcement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration revealed that a group of experienced diplomats, headed by a senior official from the Ministry, has been assigned to manage the operations of the Mission.
This initiative is part of a larger strategy aimed at executing a complete systems overhaul and reinstating integrity within the Embassy’s functions.
“An Information Technology (IT) team has already been dispatched to reconfigure the Embassy’s website and payment systems to remove all unofficial and unauthorized links that were previously associated with the system,” the statement further noted.
The Embassy was temporarily closed on Monday, May 26, following a special audit that revealed a corruption scandal involving a local staff member, Fred Kwarteng, who was employed in the IT department.
Kwarteng was discovered to have established an unauthorized payment portal through which he allegedly collected illegal fees ranging from $29.75 to $60 from passport applicants—fees that were not approved under Ghana’s Fees and Charges Act.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, had previously characterized the closure as essential for a “thorough restructuring and systems overhaul.”
The case has since been forwarded to the Attorney-General for potential prosecution and recovery of misappropriated funds. Additionally, the Auditor-General has been instructed to carry out a comprehensive forensic audit to ascertain the total financial loss to the state.
