Ghana’s US Embassy Closed – Foreign Affairs Minister
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has announced the closure of Ghana’s embassy in Washington in the United States of America (USA) with immediate effect.
It comes after an extensive corruption scheme was uncovered at the embassy through a “special audit.”
Among the findings of the audit was that of dealings of one Fred Kwarteng, a local staff member recruited on August 11, 2017, to work in the embassy’s IT department, who allegedly created an unauthorized link on the embassy’s website, diverting 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.
“His illegal extra charges, which were not approved by the Ministry and Parliament as required under the Fees and Charges Act, range 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.”
He has since been dismissed, while his conduct has been reported to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and retrieval of funds obtained through fraudulent schemes.
According to the Minister, the closure will be in effect for a few days to make way for restructuring and systems overhaul after recalling all Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff posted to the Washington embassy; dissolving the embassy’s IT department; and suspending all locally recruited staff.
“The Auditor-General has been invited to conduct a forensic examination of all transactions and to determine the total cost of this elaborate fraudulent scheme.”
Meanwhile, he apologized for any inconvenience this has caused.
Source: opemsuo.com / Hajara Fuseini
