Ghana's embassy in Washington to reopen for business on Thursday
The Embassy of Ghana in Washington D.C. is expected to reopen on Thursday, May 29, resuming full consular services after a temporary closure due to a major corruption scandal.
It was shut down on May 26 as part of a restructuring and systems overhaul after uncovering an IT breach which allowed a staff member to redirect applicants in a fraudulent scheme for personal benefits.
A statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, May 27, said, “A team of seasoned diplomats led by an astute diplomat from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been tasked to run the Mission to ensure a total systems overhaul, restore integrity in the Embassy’s operations and complete ongoing structural reforms.”
Additionally, “an Information Technology (IT) team has already been deployed to reconfigure the website and payment platforms to do away with all unofficial and unauthorised links associated with the IT system or the Embassy”.
The matter has been referred to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and the recovery of misappropriated funds.
Additionally, the Auditor-General has been tasked with conducting a full forensic audit to determine the total financial loss to the state.
While acknowledging the inconvenience caused to Ghanaian nationals and other applicants seeking consular services, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised that the drastic measures were necessary to restore integrity and accountability within Ghana's diplomatic missions abroad.
The temporary shutdown aimed to address damning findings from a special audit team that uncovered fraudulent activities at the diplomatic mission.
According to statements from the ministry, a locally recruited IT officer, Fred Kwarteng, allegedly created an unauthorised link on the embassy's website.
This link redirected applicants for visa and passport services to his private company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC), where unapproved fees ranging from $29.75 to $60 were charged and deposited into his personal account. Investigations suggest this scheme operated undetected for at least five years.
In response to the scandal, all Foreign Affairs Ministry staff posted to the Washington D.C. embassy were recalled to Accra.
The embassy's IT department was dissolved, and all locally recruited staff were suspended pending further investigation.
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