Ablakwa should be ashamed over passport saga – Elvis Darko

The Managing Editor of the Newscenta newspaper, Elvis Darko, has criticised Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa over his explanation of the alleged irregular issuance of diplomatic and service passports, describing it as shameful.

Mr Darko said the Minister’s response had failed to address concerns about how people who did not qualify for the official travel documents allegedly obtained them, particularly after the Ministry had announced the cancellation of unreturned passports in 2025.

His comments come amid controversy over allegations that some diplomatic and service passports were issued to unqualified persons in exchange for money.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said its preliminary investigations identified 10 Service Passports allegedly issued irregularly between 2023 and 2026, all of which have since been cancelled.

Speaking on Accra-based Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily programme on Monday, November 9, Mr Darko questioned the Ministry’s account and said the Minister should be held to the standards of accountability he had previously advocated.

“He should be ashamed of himself for what the statement is. A shameful statement,” he said.

The journalist based his criticism on the Ministry’s earlier recall of diplomatic and service passports issued under the previous NPP administration.

He said the Presidency directed the Ministry on January 14, 2025, to recall the passports, prompting a public announcement the following day asking holders to return them.

According to him, the Ministry subsequently issued another notice on March 10, 2025, giving holders until March 17 to return the documents or face cancellation.

He further recalled that on May 6, 2025, the Ministry announced the cancellation of 701 official passports that had not been returned, comprising 341 Diplomatic Passports and 360 Service Passports.

Mr Darko questioned how the Ministry could now report that four of the 10 passports identified in its preliminary investigation were issued in 2023, despite the earlier cancellation exercise.

“If you check and you have 701, and you cancelled all of them, how are you telling us today that you found four passports that were issued in 2023? Did they think that we are kids in this country?” he asked.