Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has accused former Ghana Ambassador to the US, Hajia Alima Mahama, of enabling corruptionHe alleged that Mahama attempted to undermine investigations and downplay the magnitude of the rot she uncoveredThe Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has reportedly taken up the case, with the ex-ambassador in their sights
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, has accused the former Ghana Ambassador to the US, Hajia Alima Mahama, of enabling corruption at the Embassy in Washington DC.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, June 26, 2025, the minister, who also serves as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, alleged that Mahama attempted to discredit the ministry’s investigations and downplayed the magnitude of corruption uncovered at the embassy.
MP Ablakwa subsequently stated that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) had taken over the case, confident that the former Ambassador to the US would be held accountable for her actions.
“We have provided Parliament with a full report of the fact-finding mission. The levels of corruption and conflict of interest we uncovered were absolutely egregious. No responsible leadership, when confronted with such rot, would choose to look the other way,” he said.
Ablakwa speaks on Ghana’s visa scandal
The Foreign Affairs Minister made these remarks while updating the country on the investigations conducted into the visa scandal that recently hit the Ghana Embassy in Washington DC.
He explained that the visa scandal dated back to 2019, when Fred Kwarteng, a locally recruited IT staff member at the embassy, created an unauthorised link on the embassy’s official website.
According to Mr Ablakwa, the suspect redirected 99 percent of visa and passport application traffic to his private company, Travel Ghana Secured Data Centre.
He said the embassy became aware of the breach on November 19, 2019, and issued a query letter later.
Ablakwa said Kwarteng had admitted to diverting visa and passport traffic to his private company in his response to the query.
He stated that what was even worse was that, instead of ending the illegal activities, Ambassador Alima Mahama had signed a contract with Fred Kwarteng in 2023, thereby legitimising his operations.
The Foreign Affairs Minister questioned how an ambassador could make such a favourable deal with a staff member who had already been accused of undermining the state’s interests, calling it a clear case of conflict of interest.
“I can understand why she’s desperately moving from one radio station to another because she knows she’s really in hot water. The ongoing EOCO investigations will soon catch up with her. But she should not be peddling falsehoods. She should not distort what the fact-finding team discovered, and she should not downplay the gravity of the infractions and breaches at stake in this matter,” he added.
Mr Ablakwa emphasised that the ongoing EOCO investigations would soon catch up with her and warned that she should not spread false information, distort the findings of the fact-finding team, or downplay the severity of the violations and breaches in the matter.
188 Ghanaians in the US face deportation
YEN.com.gh previously reported that the government said 188 Ghanaians were on a US deportation list.
The Foreign Affairs Minister stated that Ghana was working closely with US authorities on the matter.
Ablakwa also confirmed that Ghana faced possible visa sanctions due to its inclusion on a US watchlist.
Proofreading by Bruce Douglas, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh