The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that Ghana’s Embassy in Washington DC will reopen on Thursday, May 29.
The Ministry announced in a statement on Tuesday, May 27 that a team of seasoned diplomats led by an astute diplomat from the Ministry has been tasked and complete ongoing structural reforms at the embassy.
On Monday, May 26, the sector Minister, Samuel Okudzeto announced that the embassy shall be closed for a few days from Monday, May 26, as the government finalised ongoing restructuring and systems overhaul.
The Minister also stated that all Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff posted to the Washington embassy have been recalled home with immediate effect.
The embassy’s IT department had been promptly dissolved, Mr Ablakwa further stated. Additionally, all locally recruited staff at the embassy were suspended.
This development came on the back of a damning audit report on the operations of the embassy especially its IT department.
Following the report, Mr Ablakwa announced the sacking of one Fred Kwarteng, a local staff recruited on August 11, 2017 to work in the embassy’s IT department.
Referring to findings from an audit report, and his own admission, Mr Ablakwa said that Kwarteng allegedly created an unauthorized link on the embassy’s website which diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC) where he charged extra for multiple services on the blind side of the ministry and kept the entire proceeds in his private account.
“His illegal extra charges which were not approved by the ministry and parliament as required under the Fees and Charges Act ranges from US$29.75 to US$60 per applicant,” the Minister wrote on his X page.
Mr Ablakwa said he took the decision with the firm support of President John Dramani Mahama.
His post on X said, “With the firm support of President Mahama, I have carried out the following drastic and decisive actions following the damming findings of a special audit team i put together a couple of months ago to investigate alleged corrupt practices at Ghana’s embassy in Washington DC:
1) The immediate dismissal of Mr. Fred Kwarteng.
Mr. Kwarteng was a local staff recruited on August 11, 2017 to work in the embassy’s IT department. According to findings and his own admission, he created an unauthorized link on the embassy’s website which diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC) where he charged extra for multiple services on the blind side of the ministry and kept the entire proceeds in his private account. His illegal extra charges which were not approved by the ministry and parliament as required under the Fees and Charges Act ranges from US$29.75 to US$60 per applicant. The Investigations reveal that he and his collaborators operated this illegal scheme for at least 5 years.
This conduct has been reported to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and retrieval of funds obtained through fraudulent schemes.
2) All Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff posted to the Washington embassy have been recalled home with immediate effect.
3) The embassy’s IT department has been promptly dissolved.
4) All locally recruited staff at the embassy have been suspended.
5) The Auditor-General has been invited to conduct forensic examination of all transactions and to determine the total cost of this elaborate fraudulent scheme.
6) Ghana’s embassy in Washington DC shall be closed for a few days from today as we finalize the ongoing restructuring and systems overhaul.
