Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Accra, Ghana//-10 Service Passports that people who did not qualify allegedly paid for since 2023 have been cancelled, and two Foreign Affairs officers are now in police hands, the Ministry says.
According to a Ministry statement on Sunday, the Acting Director of Passports, Mahama Yahaya Amantana, and junior Foreign Service Officer Alhassan Sumani have been interdicted and referred to the police for possible prosecution.
Majority Leader James Agalga told Parliament on Friday that the passport director had been stepped aside to allow investigators to work unhindered.
Two petitions and alleged payments
The probe began after the Ministry received two petitions, the first on Thursday, October 8, 2026, alleging that an organised network inside the passport administration system was selling Service Passports to ineligible individuals.
According to the Ministry’s statement, the 2023 petitioner claimed to have paid US$29,000, while a second petitioner in 2026 reported paying US$5,000 to members of the alleged syndicate.
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa set up an investigative committee on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, five days after receiving the first petition, to examine the claims.
The Ministry stated that Sumani, a Foreign Service Officer Grade A5, was named across all petitions as the alleged chief architect of the scheme.
He allegedly worked as a middleman, locally known as a “goro boy”, in 2023 before being recruited into the Foreign Service on Friday, November 29, 2024. Akwatia MP Bernard Bediako Baidoo earlier disclosed the interdiction of a November 2024 recruit during television discussions on Wednesday.
Retired Ambassador Mohammed Habib Idris, who served as Director of Passports during the 2023 period under review, will also be investigated by security agencies and sanctioned if found culpable.
Cancelled passports and diplomatic passport clarification
Preliminary findings confirmed that 10 people who did not meet statutory eligibility requirements received Service Passports between January 2023 and August 2026 after allegedly paying the syndicate.
The Ministry named the 10 recipients and published their passport serial numbers, showing that four of the documents were issued in January and February 2023, two on May 28, 2026, and four on August 11, 2026.
All 10 passports have been revoked, and Ghana’s international partners have been formally notified that the documents are invalid. Security services are pursuing the holders, including two people who used the documents to travel abroad in 2023.
