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Ghana’s Embassy in Washington D.C. has resumed operations with remarkable efficiency, processing over 800 visa applications on its first day after reopening. This follows a temporary shutdown earlier this year due to an IT-related fraud scandal.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, praised the embassy’s renewed professionalism, attributing the smooth resumption to systemic reforms and upgraded infrastructure. “From the briefing I have received, our reopened embassy in Washington D.C. issued over 800 visas on the first day of resumption,” he stated in a Facebook post on May 30, 2025.
The Minister dismissed rumours that new staff had been recruited externally to replace dismissed personnel, affirming that the current team comprises experienced diplomats redeployed from within Ghana’s diplomatic service. “There have been no new recruitments to replace lost jobs in our Washington embassy,” he said.
Ablakwa described the relaunch as part of a broader reform initiative, dubbed a “patriotic consequential reset agenda,” and strongly rejected claims that the changes were politically motivated or driven by favoritism. “This cannot be reduced to ‘jobs for the boys,’” he added.
He also revealed that a controversial 2023 agreement involving former IT head Fred Kwarteng had been annulled. The deal, allegedly made with a senior official to divert visa applications through a private platform, was declared “unauthorised, opaque and illegal.” The fraudulent scheme had led to Kwarteng’s dismissal and the dissolution of the embassy’s IT department.
Further details about frozen accounts and other corrective measures will be presented to Parliament in the coming week, according to the Minister.
Ablakwa commended the embassy staff for implementing a “systems overhaul and institutional fumigation,” calling it proof that Ghanaian diplomats can excel with the right leadership and environment.
