Former Ghana Ambassador to the USA, Hajia Alima Mahama, has debunked the allegations of signing a criminal contract with Fred Kwarteng, a former Head of IT at Ghana’s Embassy in Washington.
She refuted the allegation in an interview on 3FM on June 20.
“The contract that I signed has no correlation with what the honorable Okudzeto Ablakwa is alleging. Today I want to state clearly so that Ghanaians would understand. I signed the contract with Fred Kwarteng’s firm because I wanted to indemnify Ghana from responsibility” she emphasized.
The Foreign Affairs minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has accused Kwarteng of creating an unauthorised link on the embassy’s website, which diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants, where he charged extra for multiple services on the blind side of the embassy earning him over four million dollars annually.
However, the former ambassador to the USA explained that individual applicants have the responsibility to ensure that their passports are delivered and there are three options available to them.
“They can use a self-addressed envelope, contract a currier or do a personal pickup at the embassy” Alima Mahama clarified.
She explained to Blakk Rasta on the 3FM Urban Blend Show that prior to her appointment as the ambassador, the embassy was having challenges with passport misplacement and wrong addressing of mails which were hindering the smooth operations of the embassy and creating inconveniences for applicants hence there was a need to contract a private currier service provider which Kwarteng’s firm availed itself in 2019 before she even joined the embassy in 2021.
According to the former minister and diplomat, she realized the need to regularize the already existing relationship with Fred Kwarteng’s firm which was efficient with the currier services and most importantly Indemnify Ghana from responsibility.
The former ambassador argued further that the Ghana government does not and cannot benefit from the currier service financially, because it is a diplomatic mission therefore there was no revenue loss to Ghana.
“I don’t know where he got his calculations from. The Embassy’s revenue from visas in a year is not up to five million dollars hence it is impossible for Fred Kwarteng to make four million dollars as alleged by the Foreign Affairs Minister.
Alima Mahama stressed further that Fred Kwarteng has no access to any visa or passport money because payments to the embassy are done online.
When asked whether the contract with Kwarteng was not a conflict of interest, she said “In my understanding there is no conflict of interest and there was no competition with the embassy because the embassy does not engage in a currier services,” she stated.
According to the Foreign Affairs Minister, the matter has been referred to EOCO for further investigations.
