Fred Kwarteng, the suspended Head of Information Technology at Ghana’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., has challenged claims by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning the timeline of his recruitment and his alleged role in a visa and passport payment scandal.
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa stated in a social media post on May 26, 2025, that Kwarteng was hired in August 2017 and was dismissed for creating an unauthorized payment link that redirected consular applicants to his private company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC).
The link reportedly collected unapproved fees, prompting the embassy’s temporary shutdown for a systems overhaul.
However, in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, Mr. Kwarteng disputed the timeline presented by the minister and denied any wrongdoing.
He maintained that his official employment with the embassy began earlier than claimed.
“My official temporary contract letter is dated December 16, 2016, and it has been renewed every year since then,” he said.
“Even the termination letter I received from the embassy confirms this start date, so I don’t understand why the Minister mentioned August 2017.”
Kwarteng also revealed that he had been involved in various embassy projects between 2013 and 2016, prior to his formal engagement.
He insisted that the online payment system he developed was intended to streamline operations—not to defraud applicants.
“I reject the allegations of fraud. I built the system in good faith to improve internal processing delays. There was no malicious intent,” he said.
While acknowledging that he was dismissed, Kwarteng emphasized that the accusations lack proper context and that discrepancies in the Ministry’s narrative should be addressed.
