As part of an inquiry into a suspected visa scam, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana’s foreign affairs minister, has temporarily closed the nation’s embassy in the U.S. capital.
The minister announced that the embassy would close as a result of the “damning findings” of an audit team he assembled to look into allegations of corruption at the diplomatic mission in Washington, according to the BBC.
READ ALSO: Ghanaian World War II veteran receives gift from Prince Harry for his 100th birthday
RELATED STORIES
Ablakwa claims that a locally hired employee and “collaborators” engaged in a “fraudulent” operation in which they demanded money from people applying for passports and visas.
According to the allegations, the plan involved putting an unauthorized link on the embassy’s website that led passport and visa applicants to a private company where they were “charged extra for multiple services” without the foreign ministry’s knowledge.
Africa News reports that the audit identified the unauthorized link on the embassy’s website built by Fred Kwarteng, a locally hired IT officer who has been employed there since 2017. Applicants for visas and passports were referred to his own business, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC), via this link, where they got charged unauthorized fees that ranged from $29.75 to $60.
These payments, which were not approved under Ghana’s Fees Act, were deposited directly into Kwarteng’s personal bank account. Investigators believe the fraudulent scheme operated undetected for at least five years.
The case has been forwarded to Ghana’s Attorney-General for possible prosecution and recovery of misappropriated public funds.
Employees of the foreign ministry in Washington “have been recalled home” and “all locally recruited staff at the embassy have been suspended,” according to Ablakwa.
He added, “President [John] Mahama’s government will continue to demonstrate zero tolerance for corruption, naked conflict of interest and blatant abuse of office,” per the BBC.
Meanwhile, though the minister acknowledged the inconvenience caused, no timeline has been given for the embassy’s reopening, but the Foreign Ministry says services will resume once the restructuring process is complete.
READ ALSO: Regina Hall says Girls Trip 2 could relocate from Ghana to another African country
