NPP flags six Ghanaian service passport holders, petitions US

In a letter dated October 30, 2026, the party’s General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, appealed to the US Chargé d’Affaires in Ghana, Rolf Olson, to review six cases involving service passports reportedly approved for individuals linked to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Fisheries Commission.

According to the NPP, the individuals’ positions, as stated in two approval letters issued by Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August 2026, do not correspond with the actual staffing arrangements at the respective institutions.

The party further alleged that some of the positions cited in the documents do not exist.

The first approval letter, dated August 6, covered three individuals presented as NADMO officials: Twumasi Francis Kwame, described as Deputy Director of Climate Change; Shaibu Alhassan Abu, identified as Director of Hydro; and Gyabaah Anthony, listed as Director of Geology.

However, the NPP claimed that the positions were occupied by other officers, whom it identified as Ebenezer Vandyke, Dr Bertha Kusimi and Bright Atama.

In a second letter, dated August 7, the NPP reportedly approved service passports for Issah Ayisha, Bennor Yussif and Adom Emmanuel Kwabena as officials of the Fisheries Commission.

The party raised concerns about the job titles attributed to the three individuals, alleging that the Commission does not have a position designated as Deputy Director of Aquaculture Specialist. It also claimed that the role of Deputy Director of Information Technology is held by another officer and that no position known as Assistant Finance Manager exists at the Commission.

The NPP argued that the alleged discrepancies cast doubt on whether the beneficiaries were eligible for the passports, particularly given that the approval letters specified that the documents were intended strictly for official use.

“A passport cannot be for official use where its bearer holds no office that calls for official travel,” the party said.

It further contended that the approvals were based on inaccurate descriptions of the applicants’ positions, adding that the passports issued under those circumstances were irregular.

Meanwhile, as part of its request, the NPP opposition party wants the US Mission to introduce stricter checks for Ghanaian diplomatic and service passport applications issued from January 7, 2025.

It is asking the US authorities to verify the official positions of passport holders directly with the institutions they are said to represent before extending diplomatic courtesies to them.

The party has also called on the Ghanaian government to suspend passports identified as having been issued to ineligible individuals and publish a comprehensive list of diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025.

In addition, it wants an independent audit of the passport issuance process to be conducted by the Auditor-General or another body independent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The findings, it said, should be made public.

The NPP is also demanding that any passports confirmed to have been issued irregularly be revoked and recovered, while individuals found to have participated in wrongdoing should be referred to the appropriate authorities for investigation and possible prosecution.

The party maintained that its appeal was motivated by the national interest and was not intended to disrupt legitimate official travel by Ghanaian government representatives.

“These matters come against the backdrop of recent incidents that have caused Ghana considerable international embarrassment,” the party said, referring to drug seizures linked to consignments from Ghana and romance fraud cases prosecuted abroad.