http://HOWEDEY.COM — GHANA POLITICS
Tuesday, 10th November, 2026
By http://Howedey.com — Accra
ACCRA — “We in the NPP support the Minority Caucus in Parliament and are fully behind the committee members. We are calling on the Speaker of Parliament to listen to and heed the call of the Ranking Member and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee for a full parliamentary enquiry into the alleged diplomatic and service passport fraud” — Dennis Miracles Aboagye, Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Mr Aboagye added: “Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa Has No Idea How Much Information We Have on Alleged Sale of Diplomatic and Service Passports.”
He made the statements as the NPP and the Minority Caucus in Parliament intensified their demand for a full parliamentary enquiry into the alleged irregular issuance and sale of diplomatic and service passports.
WHAT THE NPP IS DEMANDING
The NPP says the Speaker of Parliament should facilitate a full, public parliamentary investigation, with proceedings broadcast so citizens can follow the process and possibly provide information.
“Which other place is a better place to have this fact established than the representatives of the people? The House of Parliament,” Mr Aboagye said on Eyewitness News on Monday, November 9, 2026.
“The most important thing is to establish the facts first,” he added, insisting that Parliament should establish the facts before other actions, including possible prosecution.
He rejected suggestions that the matter should simply be referred to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) or the police.
WHAT THE NPP AND MINORITY ALLEGE
The NPP alleges that the scheme was established and supervised under Mr Ablakwa, and not in 2023 as the Ministry has suggested.
Mr Aboagye said the NPP has examined documents, including a committee report which, according to him, contains WhatsApp exchanges showing the Acting Director of Passports instructing a junior officer to facilitate the collection of passport booklets by a travel agent.
He also alleged that officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs escorted holders of allegedly fraudulent passports through immigration at the airport to facilitate their travel.
“Whenever the passports are ready, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, supervised by Honourable Okudzeto Ablakwa and its staff, walks to the airport with the holders of the fraudulent passports and helps them through immigration,” he said.
He said the NPP holds evidence in hard copies, soft copies and saved in the cloud, and that further disclosures would follow in the coming days.
The Minority, led by Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, alleged at a media briefing on Sunday, November 8, 2026, that about 300 Ghanaians had obtained Diplomatic and Service Passports through a syndicate and travelled to Europe and other destinations.
The Minority also alleged that diplomatic passports were sold for prices reportedly ranging from 10,000 dollars to 50,000 dollars.
Mr Aboagye has separately claimed that information available to the NPP indicates that four diplomatic passports and 24 service passports were allegedly sold.
NPP DISPUTES MINISTRY’S 2023 TIMELINE
Mr Aboagye disputed the Ministry’s account that the alleged scheme started in 2023, before the current government took office.
He argued 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 alleged that the scheme was established under Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa’s watch and facilitated by senior officials appointed by him, including the Director of Passports, Mahama Yahaya Amantana.
“It cannot be that the minister has dealt with a 2023 scheme,” he said.
WHAT THE MINISTRY SAYS — THE OTHER SIDE
In a statement issued on Sunday, November 8, 2026, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said preliminary investigations had established that 10 service passports were issued irregularly between January 2023 and August 2026 — four in 2023 and six in 2026.
All 10 passports have been cancelled and Ghana’s international partners have been notified.
The Ministry stressed: “For the avoidance of doubt, the matters under investigations are about Service Passports and not Diplomatic Passports.” It said, so far, no evidence had emerged to suggest that Ghana’s diplomatic passports were being sold.
Two officials have been interdicted and referred to the Ghana Police Service — Mr Mahama Yahaya Amantana, Acting Director of Passports, and Mr Alhassan Sumani, a junior Foreign Service Officer.
The Ministry said the investigation followed two petitions. One petitioner claimed to have paid 29,000 dollars in 2023 and the other 5,000 dollars in 2026 to obtain service passports they did not qualify for.
The Majority in Parliament on Monday rejected calls for an ad hoc parliamentary probe, arguing that the scheme began in 2023 under the NPP administration, and that public officers and accountability institutions should be allowed to complete their work first.
HOWEDEY INSIGHT
http://Howedey.com reports both claims as allegations and positions, not as proven facts. Ten passports cancelled is what the Ministry has proven so far. Three hundred is what the Minority alleges. The gap between those two numbers is now the whole story — and only a full, independent audit and a transparent parliamentary process will establish the true number, the timeline and who, if anyone, is responsible.
