Dapilah Says Ablakwa Inherited Alleged Passport Racketeering Syndicate

Cletus Seidu Dapilah, Vice Chair of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, has come to the defence of Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa over claims linking him to the alleged sale of Ghanaian Diplomatic and Service Passports.

Mr Dapilah said the minister found an already functioning racketeering network in place when he took office, and should not be held responsible for it.

He made the remarks on Citi Eyewitness News on Monday, November 9, as first reported by Citi News.

According to Mr Dapilah, the person at the heart of the allegations had built ties with people at the Foreign Affairs Ministry and at passport application centres before he was given a job at the ministry. He said those connections allowed the individual to carry out the alleged activities.

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He argued that the fact that this staff member remained in the system after the change of government did not mean the minister was involved. He stressed that the alleged scheme existed before Mr Ablakwa's time in office and that the minister had not hired the individual.

"Ablakwa is not the syndicate. He came to meet it," Mr Dapilah said.

He added that the minister would not have tolerated such activities had he been aware of them, saying: "if he knew that something like this was happening, he would never sit down with it."

Mr Dapilah maintained that Mr Ablakwa responded quickly once the alleged irregularities were brought to his attention. He said the minister should be assessed on the action he took to deal with the matter, rather than being assumed to be complicit.

He also called on the Minority to produce evidence that ties the minister directly to the alleged passport deals, in particular any proof that he benefited financially from the scheme.

The Minority has alleged that officials of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Passport Office helped people who did not qualify to obtain Diplomatic and Service Passports.

Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Ranking Member on Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, made the claims at a press briefing on Sunday, November 8. He alleged that about 300 Ghanaians had used the documents to travel to Europe and other destinations.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor has since begun investigating alleged corruption and irregularities in the issuance of the passports.