Ghana Embassy in Washington DC reopens tomorrow
Ghana Embassy in Washington DC reopens tomorrow — Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the Ghana Embassy in Washington DC, United States of America (USA), will reopen tomorrow.
It, therefore, gave an assurance that the necessary measures had been put in place to clear the backlog, and that “Any inconvenience resulting from our necessary interventions is deeply regretted.”
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday, in Accra, said all inquiries might be channelled to the following for prompt resolution: washington@mfa.gov.gh, + 1 202 686 4520 or ipab@mfa.gov .gh, + 233 240 793 072.
It said the unfortunate circumstances that led to the closure of the Embassy had been brought to the attention of the Auditor-General and the Attorney-General of Ghana for further action and appropriate sanctions.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs takes this opportunity to reassure of its commitment to enhancing service delivery to the public, safeguarding transparency, accountability and protecting Ghana’s esteemed image in the comity of nations,” it stated.
Recall
The statement said following the recall of home-based staff and suspension of local staff of the Embassy of Ghana in Washington DC, a team of seasoned diplomats, led by an astute diplomat from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had been tasked to run the mission to ensure total systems overhaul, restore integrity in its operations and complete ongoing structural reforms.
It said an information technology (IT) team had already been deployed to reconfigure the website and payment platforms to do away with all unofficial and unauthorised links associated with the IT system of the embassy.
Fraud
The Daily Graphic reported last Monday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had recalled all staff of Ghana’s mission in Washington DC with immediate effect, over alleged fraudulent activities uncovered in that embassy.
Some officers of Ghana’s Embassy in the US were found to have allegedly created a parallel bank account to the state accounts in which they collected visa and other service fees due the embassy.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic last Sunday, said a new team of staff of the ministry would be dispatched to take over operations at the embassy.
