I have carefully read the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ghana today, 8th November 2026, concerning the alleged illegal acquisition of Ghanaian Service Passports.
And frankly, the more I examine the statement against the Ministry’s own previous announcements, the more questions I have.
Let us establish some facts before anyone attempts to confuse us with political explanations.
On 14th January 2025, the Office of the President, through Dr Callistus Mahama, directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to recall Diplomatic and Service Passports issued under the previous administration.
On 15th January 2025, the Ministry publicly announced the recall, requiring affected passport holders to surrender their documents for verification.
On 10th March 2025, the Ministry issued another notice, giving affected holders until 17th March to comply.
Then came 6th May 2025, when the Ministry, acting on the instructions of Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced the cancellation of 701 unreturned official passports, comprising 341 Diplomatic Passports and 360 Service Passports.
The Ministry declared those documents invalid for international travel and placed them on a stop-list.
These are not allegations. They are documented actions of this very Ministry.
Now, fast-forward to 8th November 2026.
The same Ministry has issued another statement identifying ten Service Passports allegedly obtained illegally between 2023 and 2026.
Four of these passports were issued in 2023, while six were issued in 2026.
And this is where my questions begin.
FIRST, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GREAT PASSPORT RECALL OF 2025?
If the government recalled official passports issued under the previous administration, and subsequently cancelled hundreds of unreturned documents, what happened to the four passports issued in 2023 that have now appeared in this investigation?
Were they surrendered during the recall?
Were they among the 360 Service Passports cancelled on 6th May 2025?
Were they verified and subsequently reissued?
Or did they somehow escape an exercise the government publicly celebrated as a major achievement?
I understand perfectly well that recalling a passport is not necessarily the same as cancelling it. I also understand that cancelling a passport does not erase evidence of how it was originally obtained.
But that is precisely why the Ministry must explain the status of these particular documents during the 2025 exercise.
If they had already been cancelled, why is the Ministry announcing their cancellation again in November 2026 without explaining their previous status?
And if they had not been cancelled, how did allegedly unqualified individuals retain official passports after such a widely publicised verification exercise?
SECOND, HOW DID SIX MORE QUESTIONABLE PASSPORTS GET ISSUED IN 2026?
This, to me, is the most troubling aspect of the entire statement.
The Ministry identifies two passports issued on 28th May 2026 and another four issued on 11th August 2026.
Please, who was in government in May and August 2026?
Who was the Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs?
Who supervised the passport administration system?
And who was responsible for ensuring that only qualified individuals received Service Passports?
The Ministry tells us that reforms have strengthened the system, improved security and restored credibility.
Yet its own preliminary findings indicate that six allegedly irregular Service Passports were issued in 2026, well after those reforms began.
How do we reconcile these two positions?
You cannot celebrate the efficiency of a system while simultaneously telling us that the same system continued issuing official travel documents to allegedly unqualified individuals.
Something is clearly wrong.
THIRD, WHY DOES THE STATEMENT APPEAR SO DETERMINED TO SHIFT ATTENTION TO 2023?
The Ministry repeatedly reminds us that the alleged criminal operation began in 2023 and therefore predates the current administration.
Fair enough.
If crimes were committed in 2023, investigate them. If officials broke the law, prosecute them.
But what about 2026?
The fact that an alleged criminal operation began under a previous government does not absolve the present administration of responsibility for what happened under its own supervision.
If anything, the continuation of the alleged scheme raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the reforms introduced in 2025.
We cannot keep using yesterday’s government to explain every institutional failure occurring today.
At some point, responsibility must accompany authority.
FOURTH, WHERE IS THE COMPLETE ACCOUNT OF THE 2025 PASSPORT AUDIT?
The Ministry must publish a proper reconciliation of the 2025 recall and the passports now under investigation.
We need to know which documents were surrendered, which were cancelled, which were subsequently reissued and which remained valid.
More importantly, we need an independent examination of all Diplomatic and Service Passports issued since January 2025, including the eligibility of their holders and the officials who authorised them.
The public deserves more than a carefully worded press statement.
FINALLY, HON. ABLAKWA, GHANAIANS ARE NOT F00LS.
I have no objection to the interdiction of officers implicated in wrongdoing. Neither do I oppose the prosecution of anyone who illegally obtained or facilitated the acquisition of an official passport.
But accountability must be comprehensive.
The Ministry’s statement spends considerable space praising its own reforms, commending its leadership and reminding us that the alleged scheme predates this government.
That is not the central issue.
The central issue is how a Ministry that recalled official passports in January 2025, cancelled 701 of them in May 2025 and repeatedly assured the nation of improved security could still have allegedly irregular Service Passports issued in May and August 2026.
That contradiction deserves an explanation, not political self-congratulation.
And let me make one thing clear: the fact that a passport was issued in 2023 does not automatically make it illegal. Its legality must be determined by the applicant’s eligibility, the supporting documents and the approval process at the time.
Likewise, the fact that an alleged scheme started in 2023 does not automatically excuse questionable approvals made in 2026.
Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must stop treating legitimate public scrutiny as an opportunity for political public relations.
The statement, in my assessment, reads more like an attempt to control the narrative and throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians than a complete account of what went wrong.
We deserve answers supported by records, not another catalogue of government achievements.
We deserve an independent investigation, not institutional self-praise.
And above all, we deserve accountability that does not conveniently end where the current administration’s responsibility begins.
What exactly do our leaders take Ghanaians for?
Do they genuinely believe we cannot read, compare dates, examine official records and ask intelligent questions?
At the very least, credit the Ghanaian people with some intelligence.
A passport scandal is a national security matter, not a political propaganda competition.
And the truth must be established, whether it embarrasses the previous administration, the current administration, or both.
~~Kofi Badu
Cc: Passport Office, Ghana
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
John Dramani Mahama
