In a letter dated 30 October 2026 and addressed to the US Chargé d’Affaires, Rolf Olson, the party’s General Secretary, Justin Frimpong Kodua, said documents in its possession suggested that service passports had been approved for individuals who did not occupy the positions cited as the basis for their issuance.
Six alleged irregular approvals
The NPP attached two letters from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Director of the Passport Office in Accra, which it says show irregularities in the approval of six service passports.
The first letter, dated 6 August 2026, allegedly approved service passports for three people described as officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
They were identified as:
- Twumasi Francis Kwame – Deputy Director, Climate Change
- Shaibu Alhassan Abu – Director, Hydro
- Gyabaah Anthony – Director, Geologicals
The second letter, dated 7 August 2026, allegedly approved service passports for three people described as officials of the Fisheries Commission.
They were:
- Issah Ayisha – Deputy Director, Aquaculture Specialist
- Bennor Yussif – Deputy Director, Information Technology
- Adom Emmanuel Kwabena – “Assistance Finance Manager”
According to the NPP, none of the six individuals holds the position attributed to them in the Ministry’s correspondence.
The party claims the NADMO positions are held by Ebenezer Vandyke, Dr Bertha Kusimi and Bright Atama.
At the Fisheries Commission, it says there is no Deputy Director, Aquaculture position, with the Director position held by Gideon Boakye. It also identifies Robert Ampadu as the Deputy Director of Information Technology and says the position of “Assistance Finance Manager” does not exist.
“Information available to the NPP indicates that none of the six persons holds the position attributed to them in those letters. In two cases, the position stated does not exist at all,” the letter said.
The party argued that the Ministry’s letters indicated the passports were intended for official use, but questioned the justification for issuing such documents to people who allegedly did not hold positions requiring official travel.
“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,” Mr Kodua wrote.
The NPP said it had attached photographs of the officials who actually occupy the positions, as Exhibit C, to help the US Mission compare them with anyone presenting a passport issued under the two letters.
Cases may not be isolated
The opposition party believes the six cases could be part of a wider practice involving the issuance of diplomatic and service passports to individuals who do not hold qualifying public offices.
“The NPP has reason to believe that many other persons have been issued diplomatic and service passports in the same manner, on the strength of positions they do not hold or positions that do not exist… The NPP will bring further cases to the attention of the Missions as they are confirmed,” it said.
The party also linked the alleged irregularities to what it described as recent incidents that had caused Ghana considerable international embarrassment.
These included the seizure by French customs at the Port of Dunkirk on 10 September 2026 of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine, estimated to be worth about €225 million, concealed in a container of plastic waste shipped from Ghana.
It also cited the interception by the Ghana Police Service in August 2026 of 866 parcels of suspected cocaine concealed in sacks of gari at a warehouse in the Tema Port enclave, as well as a series of romance fraud cases prosecuted abroad.
What the NPP wants from US Embassy
The NPP is asking the US Mission to suspend the grant of visas, visa waivers and diplomatic or official courtesies to holders of Ghanaian diplomatic and service passports who do not occupy the positions that qualify them for the documents.
The request specifically includes the six individuals named in the petition.
It is also seeking enhanced verification of applications presented with any Ghanaian diplomatic or service passport issued on or after 7 January 2025, with checks conducted directly with the relevant Ghanaian authorities.
The party further wants the US Mission to share with relevant American authorities any information that could help establish whether the passports have been misused.
Demands government action and independent audit
Separately, the NPP has called on the government to immediately suspend all diplomatic and service passports issued to people who do not hold the official positions on which their issuance was based.
It is also demanding the publication of a comprehensive list of diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025, including the names of holders, their offices, passport categories and the eligibility basis for their issuance.
The party wants the Auditor-General to lead an independent audit, with the findings made public.
It has further called for the revocation and recovery of passports found to have been issued irregularly, prosecution of persons found culpable and written notification to all accredited diplomatic missions after the audit.
“A diplomatic or service passport is a declaration by the Republic of Ghana that its bearer travels on the business of the State and merits the courtesies that status affords. Where such documents are issued to persons who hold no qualifying office, that declaration can no longer be relied upon,” the party said.
The letter was copied to the President, the Speaker of Parliament, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for the Interior, the Auditor-General, the Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, the Comptroller-General of Immigration and the media.
“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,” Mr Kodua added.
