The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that persons who did not qualify were issued Ghanaian Service Passports after allegedly making illegal payments to a syndicate. It has interdicted two officers, referred them to the Ghana Police Service and cancelled the ten passports it listed.
The Ministry gave the details in a “Statement on Passport Administration in Ghana,” dated November 8, 2026. It stated the scheme had been operating illegally since 2023.
Ministry confirms Service Passports were issued illegally
The Ministry stated it received two petitions pointing to an irregular Service Passport issuance scheme. The first arrived on October 8, 2026, and a committee was set up on October 13 on the instructions of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. The 2023 petitioner claimed to have paid US$29,000, while the 2026 petitioner stated that he paid US$5,000 to those involved in what the Ministry called a “criminal cartel.”
“The Ministry’s preliminary findings have confirmed that indeed persons who did not qualify to be issued with Service Passports were issued the following Service Passports since 2023 after allegedly making illegal payments to a syndicate.”
Official Statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
It listed ten passports. Four were issued in January and February 2023, two on May 28, 2026, and four on August 11, 2026. Six of the ten were therefore issued in 2026, even though the Ministry described the scheme as one that predates the current administration.
The Ministry said all ten passports have been cancelled and its international partners notified. It added that two holders who used the passports to travel in 2023 are “being vigorously pursued.” It also drew a line around the scope of the inquiry. “So far, no evidence has emerged that Ghana’s Diplomatic Passports are being sold,” it stressed, adding that the matters under investigation concern Service Passports only.
The Ministry interdicts officers, refers them to police
The Acting Director of Passports, Mr Mahama Yahaya Amantana, has been interdicted. So has a junior Foreign Service Officer, Alhassan Sumani (FSO A5), whom the Ministry said all the petitions named as the chief architect. It described him as having operated as a “goro boy” in 2023 before he was recruited into the Foreign Service on November 29, 2024.
Both officers have been referred to the Ghana Police Service for further investigation and possible prosecution. The Ministry added that the Director of Passports in 2023, Ambassador Mohammed Habib Idris, who is now retired, would also be investigated by the security services. He would be sanctioned if found culpable, it noted, like his counterpart Mr Amantana.The statement did not say whether anyone has been arrested, nor when the committee will report.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry releases passport issuance figures
The Ministry published Passport Office data on how many Service and Diplomatic Passports have been issued in three periods. Service Passports: 1,397 between 2009 and 2016, 3,174 between 2017 and 2024, and 754 from 2025 to date.
Diplomatic Passports: 2,899 between 2009 and 2016, 5,682 between 2017 and 2024, and 1,944 since 2025.The Diplomatic Passport figure for 2025 to date is high. It covers under two years, compared with the eight years from 2017 to 2024. The statement did not explain it. The Ministry nonetheless maintained that no evidence shows Diplomatic Passports are being sold.
Ministry defends its passport reforms
The statement credited President John Dramani Mahama’s government with reforms to the passport system. It listed chip-embedded passports that meet International Civil Aviation Organization standards, Passport Application Centres in all 16 regions, 24-hour operations, free courier delivery and an e-Tracking mechanism.
It said the application fee was cut from GH¢500 to GH¢350 and that the Ghanaian passport is now among the world’s most valuable, citing the number of visa waiver agreements signed in recent months. It claimed that Ghanaians surveyed by the Ghana Statistical Service ranked passport administration as the country’s most transformed and least corrupt public institution.
The Ministry promised full transparency, impartiality and accountability. Attention will turn to the police investigation, the investigation of the former Director, and whether the Ministry publishes the committee’s findings.
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