The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has petitioned the United States (US) Embassy in Accra to suspend recognition of Ghanaian diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025, citing alleged irregularities in the issuance of the travel documents.
The party wants the US Embassy to suspend the granting of visas, visa waivers, and diplomatic or official recognition to holders of Ghanaian diplomatic and service passports who allegedly do not occupy the public offices that qualify them for such documents.
In a letter dated October 30, 2026, and signed by its General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, the NPP called for enhanced scrutiny of Ghanaian diplomatic and service passports issued under the current administration pending full disclosure and an independent audit.
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The petition follows concerns raised by the party over two letters from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, signed on behalf of the Minister by the Chief Director, approving service passports for six individuals described as officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Fisheries Commission.
The NPP questioned the official status of the beneficiaries, alleging that none of the six individuals holds the positions attributed to them in the Ministry’s correspondence. It further claimed that two of the positions mentioned in the letters do not exist.
The six individuals named in the petition are Twumasi Francis Kwame, Shaibu Alhassan Abu, Gyabah Anthony, Issah Ayisha, Bennor Yussif and Adom Emmanuel Kwabena.
According to the opposition party, the actual officers occupying the positions listed in the approval letters are different from the beneficiaries of the passports.
The NPP said it had attached photographs of the officers it identified as the legitimate officeholders to enable the US Embassy to compare their identities with those of individuals presenting passports issued under the disputed approvals.
“On the face of the Ministry’s own correspondence, these approvals rest on a misdescription of the applicants’ positions, and the passports issued on them are irregular,” the party stated.
The NPP further alleged that the six cases could represent a wider pattern of irregularities, claiming it had reason to believe that several other individuals might have obtained diplomatic and service passports without meeting the required conditions.
It indicated that it would bring additional cases to the attention of foreign diplomatic missions as further information becomes available.
As part of its request, the party urged the US Embassy to subject applications involving any Ghanaian diplomatic or service passport issued on or after January 7, 2025, to enhanced verification.
It specifically called for direct confirmation from the relevant Ghanaian institutions to establish whether passport holders genuinely occupy the public offices under which their documents were issued.
The NPP also linked its concerns to what it described as recent incidents that have damaged Ghana’s international reputation, including the seizure by French customs of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine concealed in a container of plastic waste shipped from Ghana, as well as romance fraud cases prosecuted abroad.
Beyond its appeal to the US Embassy, the opposition party called on the government to suspend diplomatic and service passports issued to individuals who do not hold qualifying public offices.
It also demanded the publication of a comprehensive list of diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025 and an independent audit of the process led by the Auditor-General.
The party maintained that its intervention was intended to protect Ghana’s international credibility and the integrity of its official travel documents.
“The NPP makes this request with regret and in the national interest. It is not our wish to inconvenience genuine officials of the State travelling on legitimate business, and we believe that a prompt and transparent audit will allow normal courtesies to resume quickly,” the letter added.