GHANA · POLITICS
Key Facts
- The country Ghana is a West African democracy of about 34 million people, with Accra as its capital.
- What happened On Friday 30 October 2026 the opposition NPP asked the US embassy in Accra to tighten checks on Ghanaian official passports.
- The cases The party names six people given service passports in August 2026 as staff of two state agencies.
- The claim The NPP says the posts listed for them do not exist or belong to other officers.
- The reply The Foreign Ministry had not answered the claims in public at the time of writing.
Ghana passports for officials are under challenge, as the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) asked the US on Friday 30 October 2026 for extra checks. It says six people got service passports in August on job titles that do not match who holds those posts.
The request matters beyond Accra because a US visa officer is the last gate for any Ghanaian official flying to America. The party wants Washington to verify each holder with their employer before extending the usual courtesies.
What the Opposition Party Is Asking
The NPP is Ghana’s largest opposition party and governed until January 2025, when President John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress took office. Its general secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, signed a letter dated 30 October 2026 to the chargé d’affaires, the top US diplomat in Accra.
The letter asks the US mission to put applications involving Ghanaian diplomatic and service passports issued since 7 January 2025 through enhanced verification. It also wants each holder’s official position confirmed with the institution said to employ them.
The Six Cases the Party Lists
The party says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved service passports in two letters, dated 6 August and 7 August 2026. The first covered three people described as officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Ghana’s disaster-relief agency.
The NPP says other officers hold those posts, and that the second letter lists three Fisheries Commission staff in similar cases. It says the Commission has no deputy director for aquaculture or assistant finance manager.
Why Passports Marked for Official Use Matter
Ghana passports of this kind are travel documents for people on state business, and they often bring faster airport handling and easier visa processing. The Ministry’s own letters, the party says, limited these Ghana passports to official use only.
In the party’s words, a passport cannot be for official use when its bearer holds no office that calls for official travel. The NPP says the approvals rest on a misdescription of the applicants’ positions.
Last Year’s Passport Recall
Ghana passports for officials have been a political issue since the change of government. On 15 January 2025 the Foreign Ministry told holders who no longer serve the state, including former ministers and lawmakers, to hand their passports back.
By March 2025 the Ministry said 404 diplomatic and 387 service passports were still outstanding, and set a surrender deadline of 17 March 2025. Passports not returned were to be cancelled and placed on a stop list at Ghana’s entry and exit points.
What the Party Wants From Its Own Government
The NPP also asks the Ghanaian government to suspend any of the Ghana passports found to have gone to an ineligible person. It wants a full list of diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025 to be published.
The party calls for an independent audit by the Auditor-General or another body outside the Foreign Ministry, with the findings made public. It says passports found irregular should be revoked and recovered, and anyone involved referred for investigation and possible prosecution.
What It Means for US Readers
US consular officers decide every visa case on its own facts, and an official Ghana passport does not guarantee a visa. The letter is a political appeal, and the US embassy has no duty to act on it.
For American companies and aid groups in Ghana, the story is a sign of how sharp politics has become two years after the handover. The party also cites drug seizures and romance-fraud prosecutions abroad, which fits a wider Ghana fraud story already in US courts.
What Is Not Known
It is not known whether the US embassy will change how it handles official Ghana passports, or whether it has replied to the letter. The Foreign Ministry has not publicly answered the claim that the six holders lack the posts listed.
No public figure shows how many diplomatic and service passports have been issued since January 2025. It is also unclear whether any of the six people has used a passport to travel to the United States.
More: Ghana news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Ghana’s opposition ask the US to do?
The NPP asked the US embassy in Accra to apply enhanced verification to Ghanaian diplomatic and service passports issued since 7 January 2025. It wants each holder’s position confirmed with their employer.
Who are the six people named in the petition?
The NPP says three were approved as NADMO officials and three as Fisheries Commission staff, in Foreign Ministry letters of 6 and 7 August 2026. It says their listed posts are held by others or do not exist.
What is a service passport?
A service passport is an official travel document for state employees on government business, a step below a diplomatic passport. Ghanaian law limits both types to people with a state role.
Has the Ghanaian government responded?
The Foreign Ministry had not publicly answered the claims at the time of writing. The government earlier recalled official passports from former office holders in 2025.
Will the United States act on the petition?
That is not known. US visa decisions are made case by case, and the embassy has not publicly commented on the letter.
Sources: New Patriotic Party, letter to the US Chargé d’Affaires in Ghana, signed by General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong, 30 October 2026; Ghana Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, public announcement of March 2025 on the recall of diplomatic and service passports (404 diplomatic and 387 service passports outstanding), March 2025; Ghana Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, official website, 31 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief