The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that Ghana's Embassy in Washington DC, United States of America, which was recently shut down, will be reopened on Thursday, May 29.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced the temporary closure of the embassy on May 26 due to a corruption scandal involving one Mr. Fred Kwarteng, a local staff member recruited on August 11, 2017, to work in the embassy’s IT department.

To aid further probe, all Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff posted to the Washington embassy were recalled home with immediate effect. Also, the IT department was dissolved, and all locally recruited staff at the embassy have been suspended.

In a statement dated May 27, the ministry noted that following the recall of home-based staff and the suspension of local staff, a team of seasoned diplomats led by an astute diplomat has been tasked to run the mission.

Their presence will "ensure total systems overhaul, restore integrity in the Embassy's operations and complete ongoing structural reforms."

The ministry further revealed that an Information Technology (IT) team has already been deployed to reconfigure the website and payment platforms to do away with all unofficial and unauthorized links associated with the IT system of the embassy.

With regards to clearing the backlog due to the temporary closure, the Foreign Ministry assured that measures have been put in place.

"Any inconvenience resulting from our necessary interventions is deeply regretted," the ministry apologized to applicants.

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Details of Mr Kwarteng's activities

Mr Kwarteng is said to have created an unauthorized link on the embassy’s website which diverted 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 ranges 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," Mr Ablakwa revealed.

Mr Fred Kwarteng has been fired, and his conduct has been reported to the Attorney-General, Dr Dominic Ayine, for possible prosecution and retrieval of funds obtained through fraudulent schemes.

The Auditor-General has been invited to conduct a forensic examination of all transactions and to determine the total cost of this fraudulent scheme.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reassured of its commitment to enhancing service delivery to the public, safeguarding transparency and accountability and protecting Ghana's esteemed image in the comity of nations.

Reactions

The closure of the embassy received diverse reactions. A section of the public chided the minister for announcing the closure of the embassy via his Facebook page instead of an official communique by the ministry.

“This is a very damning thing. You just do not go on your Facebook page and put a thing like that there. Issue an official statement and sign it, or use your PR office and explain what you found and that it is being investigated further. Then it becomes a government statement. But putting it on your Facebook makes you open yourself up for some of this attack,” Managing Editor of The Herald newspaper, Larry Dogbey, said.

For some Ghanaians, the initiative reaffirms the government's anti-graft message.

“It is justified to commend Honourable Ablakwa for taking a step to nip whatever it is in the bud immediately before it blows out of proportion. People may have different views on what they think should be the appropriate approach, either based on interest, expertise, or political convenience, but at the moment, there can only be one approach to resolving the matter, which he is prepared to apply,” National Deputy Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Elikem Kotoko, said.