The Majority members on the Parliament Committee on Overseas Affairs, has come to the protection of the Minister of Overseas Affairs, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, stressing he didn’t err in temporarily shutting down the Ghana Embassy in Washington DC.
In line with the bulk they might not enable self-seeking people to tarnish the picture of the nation beneath the guise of the alleged fraudulent acts dedicated in its embassies.
At a media briefing in Accra yesterday, Mr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, a rating member of the committee, said that the closure of the embassy on account of the corrupt practices ought to relatively be seen as a step in the precise path because it sends a robust warning to workers of the opposite embassies and missions.
He indicated that the resetting agenda of presidency beneath President John Dramani Mahama couldn’t be achieved if the nation’s diplomatic services had been allowed for use inappropriately.
Mr Vanderpuije famous that after the deliberate upkeep and correct auditing the embassy can be opened once more.
He urged the Minister to take steps to weed out the unhealthy nuts in all its embassies overseas with a purpose to reclaim the nation’s picture which had been significantly broken.
Ghana’s embassy in Washington, D.C. was closed down temporarily to permit for investigations into alleged corrupt practices automotiveried out by a workers of the embassy on Monday, Could 26, 2025.
The corrupt practices, together with unlawful further prices, which had been occurring for almost 5 years, had been uncovered by a particular audit staff who assembled a number of months in the past to research alleged corrupt practices on the embassy.
A press release issued beneath the hand of Mr Ablakwa stated all workers members posted to the Washington embassy had been recalled instantly while the embassy’s IT division has been promptly dissolved.
The assertion talked about that Mr Fred Kwarteng, a workers member from the embassy’s IT division, has been dismissed for creating an unauthorised part on the embassy’s web site that diverted visa and passport candidates to his firm, Ghana Journey Consultants (GTC).
“The unlawful further prices, which weren’t accepted by the ministry and Parliament as required beneath the Charges and Expenses Act, vary from $29.75 to $60 per applicant. Investigations reveal that he and his collaborators operated this illegal scheme for not less than 5 years.
BY LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU
