Ghana's parliamentary opposition has accused officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Passport Office of running a scheme that sold diplomatic and service passports to people who did not qualify for them, claiming that around 300 Ghanaians have already travelled to Europe and other destinations on the documents.

The allegation was made at a press conference in Parliament on Sunday, 8 November, by Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Minority's ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee. He said officials operated what amounted to a travel and tour business, charging clients money in exchange for the special passports, which allow their holders to enter dozens of countries without a visa.

According to Jinapor, applicants were given false government jobs and titles so they appeared eligible for the documents. He told reporters that the Minority had obtained approval letters, bank deposit slips, mobile money records and copies of passports which it said pointed to an organised operation inside the passport system.

What the Minority alleges

Jinapor said the scheme worked by assigning applicants official designations at public bodies they did not work for, including the Ghana TVET Service, the Fisheries Commission and the National Disaster Management Organisation. He displayed a letter dated 1 June 2026 describing one applicant, Amoah Aboodi, as Director of Audit Services at the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council, and another letter three days later giving the same person the different title of Deputy District Coordinating Director of the Accra District Assembly.

He also alleged that staff of the Foreign Affairs Ministry helped beneficiaries through the airport to avoid or reduce checks by Ghana Immigration Service officers. The passports were marketed, he said, as a way of travelling to certain countries without visas, particularly to people who might otherwise struggle to obtain the necessary travel authorisation.

The Minority says it will file a motion in Parliament on Monday, 9 November, seeking an ad hoc committee to examine all diplomatic and service passport approvals from 7 January 2025 until the date Parliament adopts the motion. Jinapor had earlier told MPs that diplomatic passports were being sold for between US$10,000 and US$50,000, a claim that led to his ejection from the chamber on Tuesday, 3 November.

Ministry cancels 10 passports

Hours before the Minority's press conference, the Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a statement on Sunday saying a preliminary investigation had identified 10 people who obtained service passports despite being ineligible. The ministry said it had cancelled those 10 passports and that the documents were issued after money was paid to a group working inside the passport administration system.

Two officials have been interdicted and referred to the Ghana Police Service: the Acting Director of Passports, Mahama Yahaya Amantana, and a junior Foreign Service officer, Alhassan Sumani, who the ministry described as the alleged chief architect of the scheme. The ministry said its investigation covers a service-passport scheme dating back to 2023, and that there is no evidence diplomatic passports are being sold.

The statement also referred to payments by petitioners, including one person who allegedly paid US$29,000 in 2023 and another who paid US$5,000 in 2026. The claims have not been independently verified, and none of the people named by the Minority has been charged.

Why the passports matter

Diplomatic passports in Ghana are intended for specified officials, diplomats, consular officers, heads of delegations and other prominent citizens or senior public officials, while service passports are for eligible public officers travelling abroad on official state business. Jinapor noted that diplomatic passport holders can enter 62 countries without a visa, compared with 59 for service passport holders, with Hong Kong, Qatar and Turkey accounting largely for the difference.

The dispute has already caused a parliamentary row. At a press conference on Wednesday, 4 November, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said the Foreign Affairs Caucus had obtained material indicating that some travel documents were obtained through false representations and impersonation at the ministry. Majority Leader James Agalga has argued that the allegations amount to claims of criminal conduct and require supporting evidence.

Whether the proposed parliamentary inquiry goes ahead will now depend on the motion filed on Monday and on the outcome of the police investigation into the two suspended officials.