Preliminary findings from an internal probe led to the interdiction of Acting Director of Passports Mahama Yahaya Amantana and a junior officer.
Ten Service Passports that people who did not qualify allegedly paid for since 2023 have been cancelled, and two Foreign Affairs officers are now in police hands, the Ministry says.
According to a Ministry statement on Sunday, the Acting Director of Passports, Mahama Yahaya Amantana, and junior Foreign Service Officer Alhassan Sumani have been interdicted and referred to the police for possible prosecution.
Majority Leader James Agalga told Parliament on Friday that the passport director had been stepped aside to allow investigators to work unhindered.
The Ministry stated that Sumani, a Foreign Service Officer Grade A5, was named across all petitions as the alleged chief architect of the scheme.
He allegedly worked as a middleman, locally known as a "goro boy", in 2023 before being recruited into the Foreign Service on Friday, November 29, 2024. Akwatia MP Bernard Bediako Baidoo earlier disclosed the interdiction of a November 2024 recruit during television discussions on Wednesday.
Retired Ambassador Mohammed Habib Idris, who served as Director of Passports during the 2023 period under review, will also be investigated by security agencies and sanctioned if found culpable.
Cancelled passports and diplomatic passport clarification
Preliminary findings confirmed that 10 people who did not meet statutory eligibility requirements received Service Passports between January 2023 and August 2026 after allegedly paying the syndicate.
The Ministry named the 10 recipients and published their passport serial numbers, showing that four of the documents were issued in January and February 2023, two on May 28, 2026, and four on August 11, 2026.
All 10 passports have been revoked, and Ghana's international partners have been formally notified that the documents are invalid. Security services are pursuing the holders, including two people who used the documents to travel abroad in 2023.
The Foreign Ministry’s Statement on Passport Administration in Ghana and decisive actions carried out over the period. For God and Country 🇬🇭 🙏🏾 https://t.co/jZuuWemEeh
— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) November 8, 2026
Addressing claims first raised on the floor of Parliament by Damongo MP Samuel Abu Jinapor on Tuesday, November 3, the Ministry stated that it had found no evidence that Ghana's Diplomatic Passports are being sold.
"For the avoidance of doubt, the matters under investigations are about Service Passports and not Diplomatic Passports," the statement said.
Official Passport Office figures released in the statement show that 1,397 Service Passports and 2,899 Diplomatic Passports were issued between 2009 and 2016. Between 2017 and 2024, those numbers rose to 3,174 Service Passports and 5,682 Diplomatic Passports, while 754 Service Passports and 1,944 Diplomatic Passports have been issued from 2025 to date.
In a separate compliance exercise in May 2025, the Ministry cancelled 701 diplomatic and service passports held by former public officials who failed to return them after leaving office.
Passport issuance in Ghana is governed by the Passports and Travel Certificates Decree, 1967 (NLCD 155), as amended by the Passports and Travel Certificates (Amendment) Law, 1993 (PNDCL 310), and the Ministry said recent reforms — including chip-embedded passports, regional application centres in all 16 regions, and cutting the standard application fee from GH¢500 to GH¢350 — remain unaffected
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