BY ASHIADEY DOTSE
A forensic audit by the Auditor-General has uncovered nearly US$19.4 million in irregular charges paid by visa and passport applicants at Ghana’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., between 2019 and 2025.
The audit found that applicants were redirected from the Embassy’s official website to privately controlled platforms, where they were charged additional fees for passport and visa dispatch, application support services and online payment processing.
According to the report, the irregular charges were made possible through the manipulation of the Embassy’s website and the use of external platforms that were not properly authorised.
Applicants were required to pay US$29.75 for the return of their passports or visas. However, the audit found that the average actual postage cost was about US$10.10, meaning applicants paid nearly US$20 more than the estimated postage cost.
The audit identified mailing and dispatch charges as the largest component of the irregular fees.
It found that more than 170,000 visa mailing transactions, as well as thousands of passport dispatches, were processed during the period under review.
The audit calculated that applicants paid US$6,945,554 in mailing and dispatch fees. After deducting the estimated actual postage cost of US$2,357,986.40, the excess amounted to US$4,587,567.60.
Applicants were also charged additional fees for application support services through external platforms.
The fees were set at US$67 for passport applications and US$76.78 for visa applications, although the services were not among the officially approved government charges.
The audit also found that additional merchant fees were imposed through the Square payment platform, despite the absence of a formal contract governing its use.
Overall, the Auditor-General’s analysis of records from the Electronic Consular Information Management System (eCIMS) and AppTrack put the total transactions linked to the irregular activities at US$21,337,446.70.
After accounting for actual postage costs of about US$2.36 million, the remaining US$19.37 million was classified as irregular.
The audit also uncovered serious operational problems at the Embassy.
Between June and August 2025, the Embassy accumulated a backlog of 12,721 visa and passport applications, despite applicants having paid for mailing services.
Only 4,507 applications were mailed during the period, while 8,214 were either collected personally by applicants or remained undelivered.
The situation resulted in delays, complaints and additional administrative costs for the Embassy.
The audit said the Embassy subsequently spent about US$45,000 to post letters and clear part of the backlog, even though applicants had already paid for mailing services.
The report identified Fred Kwarteng, an Information Technology Officer at the Embassy, as having created and operated external platforms including TravelGhana.Net and GhanaPV.org.
Other entities linked to the system included Ghana Travel Consult, Secure Data Centre LLC, Travel Global and MFG Technology.
According to the audit, applicants were redirected from the Embassy’s official website to these platforms to make payments.
The platforms also used official symbols and similar presentation styles, which could give applicants the impression that they were authorised government platforms.
The audit said some of the redirects were implemented directly within the Embassy’s website source code, indicating administrative-level access.
It concluded that staff-linked entities were allowed to handle passport dispatch, visa processing communications and payment arrangements without the necessary authorisation and oversight.
The audit also referred to senior officials who were responsible for consular operations during the period.
Joseph Ngminebayihi, who served as Minister (Consular) from 2017 to 2021, oversaw consular operations during the early stages of third-party involvement.
His successor, Amidu Mohammed Karande, served from 2021 to 2025 during the continued use of external platforms in the Embassy’s official processes.
The report also stated that former Ghanaian Ambassador to the United States, Alima Mahama, served as Ambassador and Head of Mission from 2021 to 2024.
According to the audit, she signed a General Contract for Services between the Embassy and Travel Ghana/Secure Data Centre, formalising the outsourcing of passport and visa dispatch services to a related party.
The Auditor-General said the irregularities were enabled by weak internal controls and inadequate oversight at the Embassy.
The audit recommended that the irregular amounts be recovered from the key actors involved.
It also recommended that the affected officers be sanctioned under the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038).
The findings come after Ghana’s Embassy in Washington was temporarily closed in 2025 following concerns over delays, missing documents, unclear fee structures and other irregularities in its operations.
