'We want to know everybody' - Aboagye demands full list of passport holders

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the government to publish the names of all holders of Ghanaian diplomatic and service passports and commission an independent audit of their issuance.

The party’s Communications Director, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, said the disclosure would help establish whether the passports had been issued to individuals who met the eligibility requirements.

Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (2 November), Aboagye said the government should provide the justification for granting each individual a diplomatic or service passport.

“Publish the names and details of all those who are holding our service passports and their justification, what qualifies them to hold our service passports and our diplomatic passports. Then we’ll get to know who is fraudulent and who isn’t,” he said.

His comments follow allegations by the NPP that some individuals were misrepresented as officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Fisheries Commission in correspondence to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to secure service passports.

Aboagye said the party had independently checked the employment details of the individuals and established that they did not occupy the positions attributed to them in the relevant correspondence.

He said the party’s findings were based on checks with the institutions concerned and information available on their official websites and platforms.

He called on the Foreign Affairs Ministry to release the original letters from the institutions requesting service passports for the individuals, arguing that the documents would help establish where the alleged misrepresentation originated.

“The Ministry should be able to give us that source letter, for us to even establish who actually forged or impersonated these individuals,” he said.

Aboagye alleged that the discrepancies pointed to a coordinated attempt to secure passports for people who did not qualify for them.

He argued that service passports were not automatically available to every public servant, saying eligibility depended on an individual’s position, rank and official responsibilities.

The NPP official also called for an independent audit led by the Auditor-General, saying the exercise should examine the eligibility of passport holders and the reasons for their selection.

He maintained that the government could resolve the controversy by making the relevant information public rather than immediately suspending the passports.

“The government can resolve this in 30 minutes,” he said, arguing that the information could be retrieved from the Ministry’s records.

Asked whether the NPP was prepared to subject its own record in government to similar scrutiny, Aboagye said the current administration had access to the relevant records and should identify and disclose any irregularities.

He also defended the issuance of diplomatic passports to media personalities, social media influencers and celebrities, arguing that such decisions should be accompanied by clear justification based on their contribution to Ghana’s international profile.

Aboagye said the party had written to diplomatic missions over the alleged passport irregularities, adding that seven additional missions had received its communication by the Friday preceding the interview, with further letters expected to be dispatched.

He said the NPP would continue pressing for accountability if the government failed to respond to its concerns.