How alleged passport syndicate forged Chief Director's signature to secure illegal service passports

The Media Relations Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fred Duhoe, has detailed how an alleged syndicate forged the signature of the Ministry’s Chief Director and bypassed official procedures to secure illegal service passports.

In a Facebook post on Monday, November 9, 2026, he identified two individuals, Alhassan Sumani, also known as Samini, and a man named Walle, as the alleged perpetrators behind the operation.

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According to Duhoe, the two allegedly forged documents which were sent directly to the Acting Director of Passports instead of going through the Ministry’s established procedures.

Duhoe said Walle had perfected the forgery of the Chief Director’s signature, while Sumani allegedly worked with him to carry out the operation.

“The illegal service passports were issued after documents were forged and established procedures and protocols were bypassed, with the documents sent directly to the Acting Director of Passports by the syndicate. Those documents never emanated from the Ministry,” he stated.

He added that the two had been operating the scheme before Sumani was recruited into the Foreign Service on November 29, 2024, towards the end of the previous administration.

“Interestingly, Sumani, the ‘goro boy’, had been operating this scheme with Walle, the man who perfected the forging of the Chief Director’s signature, per his own admission. In the dying days of the previous administration, Sumani was recruited into the Foreign Service on 29 November 2024,” he disclosed.

Duhoe said their activities continued until the Ministry received petitions concerning the alleged passport dealings.

To support his account, he cited part of a petition from a complainant who accused Sumani of failing to secure a service passport after allegedly promising to do so in 2023.

The petitioner wrote:

“I respectfully write to petition your respectable office concerning one Alhassan Sumani with telephone number 0248\\\\\*, also known as Samini, in respect of his failure to secure service passports for me which he agreed to secure for me since 2023. I wish to bring this matter to your attention for the necessary investigations and appropriate action by the relevant authorities.”

Duhoe said Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa acted on the complaint by interdicting Sumani and the Acting Director of Passports on the same day the petition was received.

“The Minister took decisive action to interdict Sumani on the same day of the petition and the Acting Director of Passports pending investigations,” he said.

Duhoe also addressed questions surrounding Mahama Yahaya Amantana, the Acting Director of Passports, explaining that he had remained in active service despite earlier disciplinary proceedings over his decision to contest a parliamentary seat on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

According to him, Amantana faced disciplinary proceedings between January and September 2024 after publicly contesting a parliamentary seat while serving as a civil servant.

One committee recommended that he be demoted, while the Civil Service Council recommended his dismissal.

“Mr Amantana publicly contested a parliamentary seat on the ticket of the NDC in contravention of the Civil Service Act, which forbids civil servants from engaging in partisan politics. He appeared before the Civil Service Council and a separate internal disciplinary committee.

“The committee recommended that he be demoted by rank, while the Civil Service Council recommended that he be dismissed. These proceedings took place between January and September 2024,” he stated.

However, the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOSAG) went to court in September 2024 to challenge the decision, arguing that Amantana had been treated unfairly compared with another public officer who had also expressed interest in contesting a parliamentary seat.

Duhoe said Amantana was never dismissed and remained in active service.

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He explained that Amantana was subsequently assigned to deputise for Asante, who was then the Director of Passports, and later became Acting Director when Asante went on a foreign posting.

“Mr Asante was then assigned as the Director of Passports, and Mr Amantana was subsequently assigned to deputise for him as part of an administrative reassignment, a regular practice at the Ministry. The Director of Passports went on posting abroad, and Mr Amantana stepped in as Acting Director, a position he held until his interdiction,” he added.

Read his full post below:

MAG/MA

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