The Minority in Parliament has filed a motion seeking the establishment of a Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee to investigate serious allegations of the sale and irregular issuance of diplomatic and service passports, presenting a dossier of documents it claims exposes a syndicate operating within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Passport Office.
Addressing a press conference in Accra on Sunday, November 8, 2026, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, said the Minority had obtained compelling evidence of a scheme where unqualified persons were issued these special passports after making illegal payments.
The press conference took place hours after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement announcing the interdiction of its Acting Director of Passports and a junior officer over the matter.
Mr Jinapor explained that the alleged scheme involved officials of the Ministry and Passport Office operating a travel and tour business, which assisted paying customers to travel abroad, particularly to Europe, on diplomatic or service passports.
He said the customers were ascribed false official positions and designations they did not hold to qualify them for the documents.
He presented several letters allegedly signed on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, approving passports for persons described as officials of various public institutions.
He alleged that checks by the Minority showed that some of these individuals did not work at those institutions, while some of the positions attributed to them did not exist.
Citing one example, Mr Jinapor said a letter dated June 1, 2026, listed a Mr Amoh Boadi as Deputy Director, Audit Services, at the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council. Three days later, another letter listed the same name as Deputy District Coordinating Director of the Akrofuom District Assembly. "Do these entries refer to the same person? If so, how did the same name come to be presented under two different official positions at two different institutions for the purpose of obtaining these passports?" he queried.
He also presented receipts of cash deposits and mobile money transfers to an agent identified as Bright Yeboah Owusu, who allegedly received payments on behalf of the officials. He alleged that personnel of the Ministry assisted these individuals through the airport to avoid scrutiny by Ghana Immigration Service officers, and that some 300 Ghanaians had travelled to Europe using passports issued through the arrangement.
Mr Jinapor stated that the motion, to be filed on Monday morning, seeks a targeted review of all approvals and issuances of diplomatic and service passports from January 7, 2025, to the date of its adoption. He emphasised that the existence of an internal committee set up by the Ministry does not preclude parliamentary oversight.
"More importantly, the very people who superintended this rot cannot be the same persons to investigate it. This matter requires an independent and impartial investigation," he stated. He added that the committee must have access to passport applications, institutional recommendations, approval letters, issuance records and electronic records to establish who processed and approved the applications.
The Minority appealed to the Majority to support the motion, stating that supporting an inquiry does not require accepting the allegations as proven, but rather agreeing that matters of such gravity deserve a thorough examination.
"The authority of the Republic must never become a private means of making money, and we will not allow these serious questions to go unanswered," Mr Jinapor said.
