Being in a foreign country is not as easy as some think

Being in a foreign country is not as easy as some think. As Amakye Dede puts it “Ohuhuo ani yɛ akɛseɛ akɛseɛ, nanso ɛnduru kuro mu.”

Literally, the stranger may have big eyes, but those eyes do not see far in town.

That is why, when you are abroad, your Embassy matters.

It is supposed to be your trusted Ghanaian institution. You turn to it when your passport expires, when you lose your passport, when you need an emergency travel certificate, when you need help navigating some official difficulty, or when you simply do not know where else to turn.

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And it is not only Ghanafuo.

A foreigner who wants to visit Ghana also turns to our Embassy for a visa. To that person, the Embassy is Ghana.

So when you visit the official website of the Ghana Embassy in Washington, D.C., you do so with some assurance and pride.

These are my people. They have been vetted by the Government. Their word is as good as gold.

You naturally assume that anything the Embassy website tells you to do is official.

Or should you?

The Auditor-General’s Special Audit Report covering January 2017 to June 2025 provides some disturbing answers.

Here are some of the findings without tears.

The Embassy Website Allegedly Becomes A Road TO Private Business

According to the Auditor-General, between 2019 and 2025 the Embassy’s official website was modified to contain links and pop-up notices redirecting visa and passport applicants to private websites operated by the Mission’s ICT Officer, Fred Brian Kwarteng.

Applicants were then required to pay for mailing and application-support services through these external platforms.

Think about that. You did not Google Fred Kwarteng or go looking for his business.

You went to the official website of the Republic of Ghana and, according to the Auditor-General, the Embassy sent you there.

$29.75 To Mail Your Passport Or Visa

Applicants were charged a compulsory $29.75 mailing fee. Using the Embassy’s records, the auditors estimate that applicants paid $6,945,554.00 in mailing charges, compared to estimated actual postage cost of $2,357,986.40.

That leaves an estimated difference of $4,587,567.60.

The report says management could not provide Ministry authorization for the $29.75 charge. Nor could it provide financial records showing how the $6.95 million collected was received, recorded and accounted for.

“Ohuhuo ani yɛ akɛseɛ akɛseɛ, nanso ɛnduru kuro mu oo.”

Then Came “Application Support”

Then there were application-support charges. Visa applicants were charged between US$68.78 and US$76.78. Passport applicants were charged US$67.

Using the lowest visa charge of US$68.78, the Auditor-General estimates that applicants paid $14,346,372.00 covering 188,050 visa-related transactions and 21,079 passport-related transactions between 2021 and 2025.

Again, remember how the customer got there. People went to Ghana’s official Embassy website. They were redirected to private platforms.

Then they paid these additional fees in “application support” fees.

Who Was At The Center Of It?

The report identifies Fred Brian Kwarteng, a temporary/local ICT Officer. He served at the Mission from November 2016 until his appointment was terminated on May 25, 2025.

According to the Auditor-General, he exercised operational control over the Mission’s digital platforms, including its website configuration, online visa and passport processes, and payment-gateway integrations.

Even more remarkably, he had been queried in November 2019 for modifying the Embassy website without express approval.

Yet his contract was renewed.

Indeed, the audit found that his personnel file contained no academic or professional certificates supporting his stated qualifications, no evidence that those qualifications had been independently verified, and no proof of his legal right to work in the United States.

Yet his temporary appointments kept being renewed.

Then There Is STEFRANN LLC

The Embassy also made two payments totaling $295,907.84 to STEFRANN LLC for renovation and furnishing works at the Ambassador’s residence.

According to the audit, the then Chief Treasury Officer confirmed to Citibank that STEFRANN LLC belonged to Fred Kwarteng, who was at the same time an employee of the Mission.

Citibank questioned the invoices, company details and obvious conflict-of-interest concerns.

Later searches, according to the Auditor-General, could not confirm the existence of “STEFRANN LLC” under that exact name.

The Auditor-General elsewhere describes the company as fictitious and says $295,907.84 was unjustifiably paid through it.

CitiBank Was Watching

This was not merely a case where Ghanaian auditors arrived years later and suddenly discovered something.

Citibank was asking questions while events were unfolding.

The bank questioned invoices and payments involving STEFRANN. It questioned the Welfare Account. It questioned cash withdrawals and payments to staff.

Eventually, according to the report, Citibank viewed the Mission as potentially complicit in previous unauthorized operations involving Kwarteng and Ghana Travel Consult.

The bank regarded the situation as a reputational risk and began reassessing its relationship with the Mission.

Imagine that.

Citibank was worried about the Ghana Embassy and reassessing whether it wanted to continue its relationship with it.

There Was Also An Embassy “Welfare Account”

Then there was the Embassy Welfare Account. The auditors found that money from Ghana Travel Consult flowed into this account.

By May 2021, the report says contributions from GTC had reached $58,290.

Citibank queried cash withdrawals and payments to staff. In July 2021, funds were shared among local and home-based staff, with each receiving at least $800.

The Auditor-General concluded that the Welfare Account had been created and operated without Ministry approval and that weak internal controls allowed third-party funds to flow outside the Embassy’s official accounts.

The report also found direct cash withdrawals and payments to staff without proper documentation.

And Then The Passport Booklets

During a search of Fred Kwarteng’s office, auditors say they discovered 18 passport booklets.

Four were blank biometric passport booklets. The remaining active booklets could not be accounted for.

Auditors also found 59 used and unused visa stickers in his office.

Now we have moved beyond unauthorized charges, websites or private businesses to compromising the integrity of Ghana’s passport and immigration system.

The Headline Number: US$19.38 Million

The Auditor-General puts the estimated cost of the irregularities at $19,379,765.23.

The Biggest Question Is Not About Fred

How does a temporary ICT Officer allegedly acquire this much influence over the website, payment systems and consular processes of one of Ghana’s most important diplomatic missions?

How does an employee allegedly operate private businesses interacting with Embassy customers?

How does an entity associated with that employee receive payments from the Government?

How does Citibank begin raising red flags?

How is he queried for unauthorized changes to the Embassy website as far back as 2019?

And yet the system continues for years?

Indeed, the Auditor-General’s report goes beyond Kwarteng. It identifies senior Mission officers whose financial, administrative and consular activities allegedly facilitated or failed to prevent the arrangements, and recommends disciplinary proceedings against affected officers.

So yes, Find Fred.

But also find the supervision. Find the approvals. Find the authorizations. Find the beneficiaries. Find those who saw the red flags. Find those who should have seen them. Find those who asked questions.

And find those who received the questions but apparently did not ask enough questions of their own.

Most importantly, if ORAL eventually puts anyone involved on the J1 Highway, let us not suddenly hear the familiar “free whanwhan” chants.