The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has petitioned the United States to suspend diplomatic courtesies for Ghanaian holders of diplomatic and service passports it alleges were issued irregularly.
In a letter dated October 30, 2026, and signed by the party’s General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, the NPP asked the US Chargé d’Affaires in Ghana, Rolf Olson, to take action over six cases involving individuals approved for service passports as officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Fisheries Commission.
The party claimed that the six individuals do not occupy the positions attributed to them in two approval letters issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August 2026. It further alleged that two of the positions cited in the letters do not exist.
A second letter, dated August 7, approved service passports for Issah Ayisha, Bennor Yussif and Adom Emmanuel Kwabena as officials of the Fisheries Commission.
The party alleged that the position of Deputy Director of Aquaculture Specialist does not exist at the Commission, while the position of Deputy Director of Information Technology is occupied by another officer.
It also claimed that the Commission has no position designated as Assistant Finance Manager, as stated in the approval letter.
The NPP argued that the discrepancies raise questions about the eligibility of the beneficiaries, particularly because the Ministry’s letters specified that the passports were intended for official use only.
“A passport cannot be for official use where its bearer holds no office that calls for official travel,” the party said.
The party is asking the US Mission to subject applications involving Ghanaian diplomatic and service passports issued from January 7, 2025, to enhanced verification with the relevant Ghanaian authorities.
It wants the process to include confirmation of each passport holder’s official position with the institution said to employ them.
The NPP has also called on the Ghanaian government to suspend passports found to have been issued to ineligible persons, publish a comprehensive list of diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025, and commission an independent audit of the issuance process.
It wants the audit to be conducted by the Auditor-General or another body independent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the findings made public.
The party is further demanding that passports found to have been issued irregularly be revoked and recovered, and that anyone implicated in wrongdoing be referred for investigation and possible prosecution.
The NPP said its request was made in the national interest and was not intended to inconvenience officials travelling on legitimate state business.
“These matters come against the backdrop of recent incidents that have caused Ghana considerable international embarrassment,” the party said, citing drug seizures linked to consignments from Ghana and romance fraud cases prosecuted abroad.
