Alima Mahama defends fake websites, extortion & bribery
A former Ambassador of Ghana to the USA, Hajia Alima Mahama, has refuted a claim by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, that Fred Kwarteng, a former staff member of the country’s embassy in Washington, made $4.8 million annually through illegal means at the state’s expense.
Speaking in an interview on TV3 on Monday, June 23, 2025, Hajia Mahama mounted a spirited defence of her stewardship, insisting that Okudzato’s numbers on the operations of Fred Kwarteng’s company, GTC, which she said had a valid contract with the embassy, were incorrect.
Hajia Alima Mahama’s position on the saga contradicts that of NPP element, Kofi Tonto, a former Head of Information and Public Affairs at the Ghanaian Embassy in Washington, D.C., who at the break of the story disclosed damning details regarding the dismissal of local embassy staff member Fred Kwarteng over allegations of corruption linked to the embassy’s temporary closure.
He revealed more about Fred Kwarteng’s corrupt activities at the Ghana Embassy in the US and gave out names of the people he had worked with to expose the principal architect, saying, “The Washington Embassy Staff, Fred Kwarteng, is a bad boy. I personally investigated him several times, and he even attempted to bribe me.”
However, Alima refuted the minister’s assertion that the monies made by Kwarteng’s company, which basically renders courier services for the embassy’s passport and visa applications, were to the state’s detriment.
“I don’t know where he got his calculations from, but it can’t be true. How can it be a loss to Ghana? Like I have been saying, Ghana isn’t involved in courier services. We have hired this company to do courier services for us.
“He (Fred Kwarteng) went to these various companies to negotiate for a discount, and they gave him a flat rate. He charged his client $29.75 per delivery… even if he puts three passports in an envelope, he will still charge $29.75. And we don’t make more than 2,000 (passports) a quarter.”
She disclosed that even the revenue the embassy gets from the issuance of visas annually is less than $4 million.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who is also the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, disclosed that findings in the ongoing investigation into alleged financial misconduct at Ghana’s Embassy in Washington showed that the key suspect in the scandal, Fred Kwarteng, earned a staggering $4.8 million annually while serving at the embassy.
“Mr Speaker, investigations conducted by the top management of our ministry revealed that GTC dispatched between 150 and 350 visas and passports daily. On average, about 250 visas and passports were dispatched per day.
“Right Honourable Speaker, this implies that GTC dispatched approximately 62,500 visas and passports annually. Mr Fred Kwarteng was therefore raking in an estimated $1.8 million each year from courier services alone. Mr Speaker, you can comprehend the substantial sum he earned annually when you add the fees he charged between $60 and $100 for assisting applicants in completing their visa and passport forms. By a conservative analysis, he made about $4.8 million annually from this unlawful enterprise,” Ablakwa disclosed this on the floor of Parliament on June 18, 2025.
Tonto, a Political Aide to ex-Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, further disclosed that Kwarteng admitted to his misconduct when confronted following the investigation, but offered him a monthly bribe of US$10,000. Fred Kwarteng also revealed to Tonto that other embassy officers were involved in illegal fees matters and other corrupt conduct.
He rubbished claims that the Foreign Ministry was unaware of his corrupt activities, as stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
In support of a statement made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, on May 26, 2025, Kofi Tonto disclosed that he personally launched an investigation into Fred Kwarteng’s activities after receiving reports that Kwarteng had established a private company outside the embassy to offer mailing services and was charging clients unapproved fees.
“He is a bad boy. I personally investigated him because he had established his own company. My checks revealed that he was at the embassy around 2015 and was regularised in 2017, as the Foreign Affairs minister indicated.
“His private company was outside the embassy, offering mailing services, demanding that customers pay extra fees illegally. The incident came to my attention, I took it up with the leadership and they authorised me to investigate him,” he said in an interview on Asempa FM on Monday, May 26, 2025.
Tonto mentioned Angeline Addy, an embassy staff member, as someone who fought spiritedly with him to dismantle Kwarteng’s corrupt activities.
“Angeline Addy fought with her life. She had been at the embassy for 20-something years and understood the system.”
He added that, despite his admission, Kwarteng attempted to offer him US$10,000 in exchange for his silence while also revealing that he had accomplices involved in the alleged practices, some of whom held positions of higher authority.
“After my investigations, he admitted to the illegality. He later engaged me in a conversation and told me that he had accomplices who held higher authority than I did, and further went on to say I was wasting my time to investigate him,” he added.
Tonto continued saying, “He offered me money in exchange for me to stay silent and overlook what was happening. I’m talking about Fred Kwarteng. He told me bluntly that the report I had filed directed to the ambassador would not yield any results and would be thrown out.”
Tonto, a political aide and member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), also recounted another incident in which the individual cloned the embassy’s official website and used it to charge illegal fees.
“… He offered me $10,000 every month to be silent, but I rejected it. What shocked me even more was that he had gone as far as cloning the embassy’s official website, , and creating a fake one, ghnaembassy.net, with the help of some accomplices, who were civil servants. They were using the cloned site to collect extra fees from unsuspecting applicants. Only a fraction of that money ever made it into the embassy’s official accounts,” he added.
Tonto’s revelations come in the wake of Kwarteng’s dismissal by Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The minister reports that Fred Kwarteng, a local staff member recruited in 2017 to work at the embassy, illegally diverted visa and passport applicants into his privately owned company, Ghana Travel Consultants.
According to Ablakwa, Kwarteng, upon interrogation, admitted to using his private company to charge extra fees for multiple services without the knowledge of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and kept all the revenue generated in his private account.
“Mr Kwarteng was a local staff recruited on August 11, 2017, to work in the embassy’s IT department.
According to findings and his own admission, he created an unauthorised link on the embassy’s website which diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC) where he charged extra for multiple services on the blind side of the ministry and kept the entire proceeds in his private account,” the minister indicated on Monday, May 26, 2025.
The fees charged by Kwarteng were not approved by either the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Parliament, thereby violating the Fees and Charges Act.
“His illegal extra charges, which were not approved by the ministry and parliament as required under the Fees and Charges Act, ranges from US$29.75 to US$60 per applicant. The Investigations reveal that he and his collaborators operated this illegal scheme for at least 5 years,” the statement added.
Ablakwa added that, in addition to the individual’s dismissal, the matter has been referred to the Attorney General for further punitive action.
He also emphasised that all funds illicitly obtained by Kwarteng through his private company will be recovered.
The Ghanaian embassy in Washington, D.C., USA, will be closed for a few days from Monday, 26 May 2025, as part of a restructuring and systems overhaul after uncovering a major corruption scandal.
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced the closure alongside a series of strict measures after a special audit revealed fraudulent activities involving the embassy’s IT department.
“The embassy shall be closed for a few days as we finalise the ongoing restructuring and systems overhaul,” Ablakwa said, adding that the Auditor-General has been invited to conduct a forensic examination of all financial transactions at the embassy.
He added that the audit aims to determine the total cost of the elaborate fraudulent scheme, which was perpetrated over several years.
The investigation uncovered that a local staff member, Fred Kwarteng, had created an unauthorised link on the embassy website, diverting applicants to his company, where illegal fees were charged.
According to Ablakwa’s statement, these fees, which were not approved under the Fees and Charges Act, ranged between US$29.75 and US$60 per applicant.
As part of the crackdown, all Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel posted at the embassy have been recalled, and all locally recruited staff suspended.
The embassy’s IT department has been dissolved to halt further misconduct and restore integrity to its operations.
