The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ghana has announced the reopening of the country’s embassy in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, 29 May 2025, after a temporary closure due to a fraud investigation. The closure was the result of a special audit team uncovering a fraudulent operation allegedly orchestrated by a locally recruited IT staff member.
In response to these revelations, the Ministry has recalled all home-based staff and suspended local employees as part of a comprehensive internal overhaul. The Ministry stated its intention to take over the running of the Mission to restore integrity, complete ongoing structural reforms, and ensure a total systems overhaul.
An Information Technology (IT) team has already been deployed to reconfigure the website and payment platforms to eliminate all unofficial and unauthorized links associated with the Embassy’s IT system. The Ministry reiterated its commitment to enhancing service delivery, upholding transparency and accountability, and safeguarding Ghana’s reputation on the international stage.
The fraud at the embassy was allegedly orchestrated by Fred Kwarteng, a locally recruited IT officer who joined the Embassy in August 2017. Kwarteng created an unauthorized link on the official embassy website, redirecting visa and passport applicants to his private entity, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC). Through this scheme, unapproved fees ranging from US$29.75 to US$60 were collected, bypassing official channels and violating Ghana’s Fees and Charges Act. The funds were allegedly deposited directly into Kwarteng’s personal bank account.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the fraudulent scheme went undetected for at least five years. The case has been referred to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution, with efforts underway to recover the misappropriated funds. As part of corrective measures, the embassy’s IT department has been dissolved. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, confirmed that all personnel assigned to the Washington mission have been recalled to Accra, and all locally hired staff have been suspended pending further investigations.
