Update (Nov 7, 2026): Majority Leader James Agalga has told Parliament that Director of Passports Yahaya Amantana Mahama has been interdicted so investigators can work. He said Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is ready to brief the Foreign Affairs Committee, and that anyone found culpable will be dealt with under the law. Mr Agalga said the case concerns a service passport, not the Minority’s claims that diplomatic passports were sold.
Ghana’s Director of Passports, Yahaya Amantana Mahama, has reportedly been interdicted pending an inquiry into alleged irregularities around a service passport, Asaase News reported on Friday, November 6, 2026.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not publicly confirmed the interdiction by Friday morning. The report is separate from an earlier ministry employee whom MPs said had already been interdicted, and it does not concern the ordinary passport most Ghanaians apply for.
What the report says
According to Asaase, the move followed a petition to the ministry over a service passport and related matters. The petitioners were described as a pastor and his wife; their names were not published.
A five-member committee chaired by Ambassador Alexander Grant was formed on Tuesday, October 13, the report said. It is expected to send its findings to the minister by the end of this week, unless the timetable changes.
Ambassador Francis Danti Kotia, who previously served as Director of Passports in May 2019, has reportedly been asked to act until the inquiry ends. GhanaWeb and MyNewsGh carried matching accounts of the reported interdiction and acting appointment.
Parliament row this week
The reported step comes after a heated exchange in Parliament on Tuesday, November 3. Damongo MP Samuel Abu Jinapor alleged that diplomatic passports were being sold for between US$10,000 and US$50,000. Speaker Alban Bagbin had him escorted from the chamber; the Minority walked out with him.
No investigation or court has established the sale claim. The Majority has said what reached the ministry was a service-passport matter, not a sale of diplomatic passports. Akwatia MP Bernard Bediako Baidoo told TV3 that the case was about a service passport, not a diplomatic one. Majority Leader James Agalga told JoyNews’ PM Express that Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa ordered an officer’s interdiction so investigators could work — without naming Mr Mahama.
On Wednesday, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said the caucus held material that, in its view, pointed to false representations and apparent impersonation in how some diplomatic or service passports were obtained. On Thursday, Mr Jinapor wrote that the director’s interdiction had been reported and called for an inquiry covering both kinds of passport.
What is — and is not — affected
The documents in dispute are diplomatic and service passports, not the ordinary passport Ghanaians queue for at regular offices. Separately, from May 6, 2025, the ministry cancelled 341 diplomatic and 360 service passports that former officeholders had not returned after a recall. That cancellation is a different exercise. The ministry has not said whether ordinary passport applications are affected.
What happens next
The reported committee is expected to reach the minister by the end of this week. The interdiction has now been confirmed in Parliament by the Majority Leader. GhEcho will update this story as the inquiry proceeds.