The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has petitioned the United States to review its handling of Ghanaian diplomatic and service passport holders following allegations that some passports were issued to individuals who did not qualify for them.

In a letter dated October 30, 2026, and signed by its General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, the party asked the US Chargé d’Affaires in Ghana, Rolf Olson, to suspend diplomatic courtesies for affected passport holders and strengthen verification procedures.

The petition centres on six individuals approved for service passports as officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Fisheries Commission in two letters issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August 2026.

The NPP alleged that the individuals do not occupy the positions attributed to them in the approval letters and that two of the positions cited do not exist.

The first approval letter, dated August 6, covered Twumasi Francis Kwame, described as Deputy Director of Climate Change; Shaibu Alhassan Abu, listed as Director of Hydro; and Gyabaah Anthony, identified as Director of Geology.

The party claimed that the positions were held by other officers, whom it named as Ebenezer Vandyke, Dr Bertha Kusimi and Bright Atama.

The second letter, dated August 7, approved service passports for Issah Ayisha, Bennor Yussif and Adom Emmanuel Kwabena as officials of the Fisheries Commission.

According to the NPP, the position of Deputy Director of Aquaculture Specialist does not exist at the Commission. It also alleged that another officer occupies the position of Deputy Director of Information Technology and that the Commission has no position designated as Assistant Finance Manager.

The party argued that the alleged inconsistencies undermine the basis on which the passports were approved, particularly given the restriction that they were intended for official use.

“A passport cannot be for official use where its bearer holds no office that calls for official travel,” the party said.

It added that the approvals, based on the Ministry’s correspondence, “rest on a misdescription of the applicants’ positions, and the passports issued on them are irregular.”

As part of its proposed response, the NPP wants 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 specifically wants confirmation of each passport holder’s official position from the institution they are said to represent.

The party has also called on the Ghanaian government to suspend passports found to have been issued to ineligible persons and publish a comprehensive list of diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025.

It is further demanding an independent audit of the passport issuance process, to be conducted by the Auditor-General or another body independent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The NPP wants the findings of the audit made public and any passports found to have been issued irregularly revoked and recovered. It has also called for anyone implicated in wrongdoing to be referred for investigation and possible prosecution.

The party said the petition was motivated by national interest rather than an intention 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.