The National Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dennis Miracles Aboagye has dismissed the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s response to allegations of irregular service passport issuance, insisting that the Minister has failed to address the substantive claims levelled against his administration.
He contends that the controversy concerns an alleged arrangement operating within the ministry under the Minister’s supervision, through which individuals without legitimate official assignments obtained service passports.
Mr Aboagye’s criticism centres on what he considers “an attempt to deflect scrutiny from the minister’s responsibility by offering an explanation that does not confront the allegations.”
“Throw that statement in the bin! It’s absolute disrespectful to the people of this country that there is a serious allegation of this nature in place and the Minister decides to respond this way. Tell me which line in that statement they issued that has a response to any of the allegations?”
Dennis Miracles Aboagye
The NPP Communications Director further questioned why the response did not address the specific claims concerning the beneficiaries, the procedures followed and the officials allegedly involved in the issuance process.
In his account, service passport applications must originate from an identifiable organisation or institution, which submits a request to the minister for approval. He identified the Director of Passports, the Chief Director of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Minister as key figures in the administrative chain responsible for diplomatic and service passport issuance.
However, Mr Aboagye questioned how individuals who allegedly has no legitimate public duties requiring international travel could obtain such documents. He cited physical passports he claimed to possess, including documents issued in 2025 and 2026, which he alleged belongs to individuals presented as directors or deputy directors of state institutions despite lacking the requisite qualifications.
One example involved a man from Dormaa Ahenkro whom Mr Aboagye claimed could neither read nor write but has allegedly been presented as a director at the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC). He challenged the Minister to explain how the individual acquired that designation and subsequently obtained a service passport.
The NPP Communications Director also disputed the relevance of an explanation reportedly linking the controversy to a scheme dating back to 2023. He questioned its applicability to the current Director of Passports, whom he claimed did not occupy that office during the period in question.
Passport Director Faces Questions Over Alleged Instructions To Staff
Meanwhile, the alleged involvement of senior officials in the service passport controversy has prompted NPP National Communications Director Dennis Miracles Aboagye to challenge the attempt to place responsibility on a junior officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He argues that the interdicted employee acted on instructions from higher-ranking officials.
“I have in our custody WhatsApp messages, records of phone calls and recorded conversations showing that the Chief Director called the junior officer whom they now want to throw under the bus and told him: ‘I have sent you three letters containing the names of certain individuals. Go to my secretary, collect their passports and give them to Wale.”
Dennis Miracles Aboagye
The NPP Communications Director also questioned the fairness of holding a junior employee responsible for executing directives when, according to his account, the instructions originated from a senior official.
To illustrate his position, Mr Aboagye compared the situation to a workplace in which an editor assigns a reporter to cover a story, only for the reporter to bear sole responsibility when the assignment attracts controversy. He characterised the attempt to blame the subordinate as an inversion of accountability, arguing that the person who authorised the operation must also answer for its consequences.
In addition, he alleged that the Director of Passports established a travel and tour arrangement involving a European agent and a local intermediary. He also claimed that ministry officials accompanied some beneficiaries to the airport and assisted them through immigration checks.
According to Mr Aboagye, such assistance was necessary because service passport holders could face questions about their institutional affiliations and the official purpose of their journeys. He contended that the alleged involvement of ministry officials helped beneficiaries navigate those checks despite questions about their eligibility.
He also identified two individuals, Pastor Prince Ahensah, and his wife, Maybel Ahensah as central to the emergence of the controversy. Mr Aboagye claimed that they paid money directly to the Director of Passports for service passports and assistance in securing American visas, but subsequently sought refunds when the visas did not materialise.
He further claimed that the exchanges surrounding the alleged payments were captured in audio recordings, telephone conversations and WhatsApp messages. According to him, these materials did not implicate the junior officer in the same manner as the senior official.
Mr Aboagye also questioned the appointment of the Director of Passports, alleging that the official was dismissed from the Civil Service in 2024 before being reinstated. He challenged the decision to overlook other qualified directors within the Ministry for the position.
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