Foreign Ministry Cancels 10 Service Passports, Interdicts Two Officers

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has cancelled 10 Service Passports which it says were issued to people who were not entitled to them, after preliminary investigations pointed to an alleged scheme in which the travel documents were sold for money.

In a statement issued on Sunday, November 8, the ministry said the passports were obtained after alleged payments to a syndicate operating within the passport administration system. It described the arrangement as a criminal passport-for-sale scheme that had been running since 2023, as first reported by Citi News.

Two officers have been interdicted in connection with the investigations. They are the Acting Director of Passports, Mahama Yahaya Amantana, and a junior Foreign Service Officer, Alhassan Sumani, who the petitions identify as the alleged chief architect of the scheme.

According to the ministry, both officers have been referred to the Ghana Police Service for further investigation and possible prosecution.

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The probe began after the ministry received two petitions raising concerns about Service Passports being issued to ineligible persons. The first of these was submitted on October 8, 2026.

The ministry said one petitioner claimed to have paid US$29,000 in 2023, while another alleged that US$5,000 was paid in 2026 to people involved in the scheme.

Following the first petition, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, ordered the setting up of an investigative committee on October 13, 2026, to look into the claims.

The ministry said the inquiry was triggered by allegations that an organised network had been helping individuals unlawfully acquire Service Passports in return for large sums of money.

Its preliminary findings reportedly established that 10 people who did not meet the requirements for the documents had obtained them through the alleged arrangement. The ministry named the 10 individuals in its statement.

The passports in question were issued between January 2023 and August 2026, the ministry said.

None of the officers or individuals mentioned has been charged in court, and the matter remains under police investigation.