The Fourth Estate CMS

Tag: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

  • Foreign Affairs Ministry promises reform of document attestation services after The Fourth Estate investigation

    Foreign Affairs Ministry promises reform of document attestation services after The Fourth Estate investigation

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it is introducing reforms to digitize the payment of fees for document attestation services offered by the Ministry to eliminate the human interface that is susceptible to extortion.

    “Reforms are being pursued to make the payment process cashless, and digital platforms are being developed to anchor the entire attestation process and drastically reduce human interface,” it said in a statement.

    The Ministry’s statement followed The Fourth Estate’s latest investigation, which exposed how applicants for document attestation services at the Ministry are being fleeced to pay exorbitant fees for services between GHS 900 and GHS 1200 for services that should cost GHS 200.      

    The findings from the investigations have triggered a response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which says the “reforms will produce desirable outcomes similar to what we have achieved with Passport Administration in Ghana.”

    The Fourth Estate commended

    The Ministry commended The Fourth Estate for the investigation and said the findings would help improve governance and accountability.

    However, the Ministry insists it does not tolerate middlemen or third-party facilitators in attestation services. It says any such practice runs against its own standards of integrity and transparency.

    The statement placed the blame squarely on what it called unscrupulous middlemen. It says these individuals who take advantage of vulnerable citizens have no official link with the Ministry.

    “We reiterate that the parliamentary approved fees for attestation is GHS200 which is collected by officials of the Controller and Accountant-General who issue the appropriate receipts,” it said. “No one should engage the services of middlemen — it is strictly illegal. Citizens with relevant information, enquiries or complaints are encouraged to call: +233 240913284/ +233 240793072.”

    Middleman sanctioned, reported to police

    The Ministry confirmed that the man implicated in the investigation has been sanctioned. It said he has been reported to law enforcement for further investigation and prosecution.

    “The said gentleman has also been prohibited from entering the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the statement said.

    The Ministry had told The Fourth Estate during the investigations that Michael Gomeh, the man who demanded GHS 900 from its undercover, to facilitate a fraudulent attestation, was not its employee.

    However, The Fourth Estate found that Mr Gomeh is in fact a staff member seconded to the Ministry from National Security.

    The statement does not name Mr Gomeh or say which institution has sanctioned him.

    Reforms promised

    The Ministry said it has been working on reforms to its consular and attestation services even before the investigation. It said it is moving toward a cashless payment system. It also said digital platforms are being built to reduce human contact in the attestation process.

    The Ministry reiterated that the approved fee for attestation is GHS200. It also said this fee is collected only by officials of the Controller and Accountant General, who issue proper receipts.

    The statement noted that the attestation process involves several institutions across different arms of government. It said work has been ongoing for months to improve coordination and credibility across these institutions.

    Unanswered questions remain

    The Ministry’s statement does not address how forged documents were successfully attested during The Fourth Estate’s undercover test. It also does not explain why front desk staff routinely directed applicants to unofficial facilitators inside the building.

    Background

    Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs charges GHS200 for attesting and validating travel documents, a service some embassies require before they process visa applications.

    But The Fourth Estate investigation found applicants were paying far more than that, sometimes as much as GHS1,200, through unofficial middlemen operating inside the Ministry itself.

    The investigation focused on document validation needed for certain embassies in Ghana, including the Egyptian Embassy, which since October 2025 has required bank statements and invitation letters to be validated by the Ministry before granting visas.

    Victims said front desk staff at the Ministry routinely directed them to men in suits inside the building who offered to speed up the process for a fee.

    To test this, The Fourth Estate reporter went undercover with a forged invitation letter for an event in Egypt.

    The receptionist referred the reporter to Michael Gomeh, who wore a Ministry staff tag.

    Gomeh charged GHS900 to handle the attestation. A week later, the reporter received validated documents along with an official receipt showing only GHS265 had been paid.

    Despite using forged paperwork, the documents came back endorsed on official Ministry letterhead, signed by the Director of the Consular and Humanitarian Affairs Bureau.

  • Illegal charges rock Foreign Affairs Ministry’s travel document attestation process

    Illegal charges rock Foreign Affairs Ministry’s travel document attestation process

    What should cost GHS200 at Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is allegedly costing desperate visa applicants as much as GHS1,200 through unofficial middlemen.

    An investigation by The Fourth Estate found that applicants seeking attestation and validation of documents at the Legal Department of the ministry – a requirement for some visa applications – were being routed to individuals charging fees inflated far above the official rate under the guise of providing expedited services.

    “The receptionist directed me to a man in a suit claiming to be in the legal department to work on my documents,” a victim of the scheme says. “He charged me GHS1,000 and told me that my documents would be ready in a week. But when I got my documents, only a GHS200 receipt was issued.”

    The investigation focused on document attestation services required by some embassies in Ghana, including the Egyptian Embassy, which, as of October 2025, required visa applicants to have bank statements and invitation letters validated through the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

    Victims told The Fourth Estate that applicants arriving at the ministry were routinely directed by front-desk staff to “men in suits” within the ministry, who offered to “facilitate” the process.

    To test the claims, The Fourth Estate sent a disguised reporter to the ministry with a forged invitation letter to attend an event in Egypt.

    Michael Gomeh posing for a photo at the premises of the Foreign Affairs Ministry

    At the front desk, the receptionist referred the applicant to one Michael Gomeh, who ostensibly wore a staff tag of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Mr Gomeh charged our applicant GHS900 to facilitate the attestation of the visa application documents. The validated documents were eventually delivered within a week, accompanied by an official receipt showing a payment of just GHS265.

    Evidence of payment made to Mr Michael Gomeh of the Foreign Affairs Ministry

    Even with forged documents, the undercover applicant still received endorsed papers on the official letterhead of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, signed by John Kwasi Boakyi, the Director of the Consular and Humanitarian Affairs Bureau.

    Attestation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    The findings appeared to confirm allegations that unofficial charges were being imposed on applicants while only the approved fee was formally receipted.

    Ministry distances itself from unofficial payments

    The Ministry, in a letter dated May 12, 2026, and signed by Audrey Naana Abayena, Director of Legal and Treaties Bureau, said the approved fee for attestation and validation services remained GHS200 under the Fees and Charges Regulations, 2025.

    “Any payment made to unauthorised persons, intermediaries, facilitators, or third parties was neither sanctioned nor recognised by the ministry,” the letter stated.

    The ministry also acknowledged receiving complaints about excessive charges and said preliminary investigations suggested many of the incidents involved “third parties”. It further said it had introduced safeguards, including the publication of approved fees, issuance of official receipts, and complaint channels for reporting suspected misconduct.  

    In another letter to The Fourth Estate dated August 7, 2026 and signed by Chief Director Khadija Iddrisu, for the Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the primary responsibility for confirming the authenticity of a document rests with the issuing authority, and the Notary Public or Commissioner of Oaths.

    The documents, the ministry said, are subsequently forwarded to the Judicial Service for attestation of signatures and seals affixed by the Notary Public or Commissioner of Oaths.

    “The Ministry’s attestation process only goes to verify the genuineness of the seals and signatures affixed by the Judicial Service to the document submitted to the Ministry for attestation,” the letter stated.

    The Ministry also stated that Mr Michael Gomeh is not their employee. But The Fourth Estate, through its engagement with the Ministry, realised that he is a staff member seconded from the National Security.

    The Ministry says that it convened a consultative meeting on August 6, 2026, with stakeholders to harmonise data-sharing and establish a cross-institutional verification network. The meeting, according to the Ministry, was held among institutions including the Judicial Service, Ghana Police Service, the Birth and Death Registry, Office of the Registrar of Companies, and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.

    Still, the investigation leaves troubling questions unanswered.

    How were phony documents successfully endorsed? Why were applicants being openly redirected to unofficial facilitators from within ministry premises? And how did a fee of GHS200 evolve into a lucrative underground operation charging applicants up to five times the approved amount?

    Systemic failures

    Anti-corruption advocates say the situation points to deeper systemic failures.

    Commenting on The Fourth Estate’s findings, Mary Awelana Addah, the Executive Director of Transparency International, Ghana, said, “No citizen should be compelled, directly or indirectly, to pay unofficial fees to access public services.”

    She questioned where the excess money collected from applicants was going and warned that the allegations suggested possible collusion, abuse of office, and breaches of public trust. She called for tighter supervision, stronger internal controls, and clearer public communication on official charges.

    ***

    The reporter, Prinsella Vera Aidoo, is a 2026 Fellow of the Next Generation Investigative Journalism Fellowship (Cohort 8) at the Media Foundation for West Africa.