Recently, there has been a controversy surrounding the alleged sale of Diplomatic and Service Passports. The issue has brought an otherwise ordinary travel document into the centre of Ghana’s political conversation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that 10 Service Passports allegedly issued to persons who did not qualify for them have been cancelled following preliminary investigations into an alleged passport-for-sale scheme.
On its part, the Minority in Parliament has made broader allegations, claiming that about 300 Ghanaians travelled to Europe and elsewhere using Diplomatic and Service Passports allegedly obtained through the arrangement.
But beyond the allegations and the political contest that has followed them lie some more basic questions. What exactly is a Diplomatic Passport? What is a Service Passport? Who qualifies for them? And why does it matter whether a person travels with one rather than an ordinary Ghanaian passport?
The Three Passports Available Under Ghanaian Law
Ghanaian law recognises different categories of passports for different purposes. The Passports and Travel Certificates Decree, 1967 (NLCD 155), provides for an ordinary passport, a Diplomatic Passport and what it describes as a “special passport”. The latter is now generally referred to as a Service Passport.
The ordinary passport is the document with which most Ghanaians are familiar. It is the ordinary citizen’s travel document and is used for personal travel, whether for tourism, education, business or other private purposes.
Diplomatic and Service Passports serve a different purpose. They are connected to the official business of the Ghanaian State and are issued to persons who, by virtue of their office, assignment or the nature of their official travel, fall within the categories prescribed by law.
What is a Diplomatic Passport and Who Qualifies for it?
Section 6 of NLCD 155 sets out the categories of persons to whom a Diplomatic Passport may be issued.
They include members of the Government of Ghana travelling abroad on official Government business; Ghanaian diplomatic representatives accredited to other countries or international organisations as heads of mission; members of their diplomatic staff; Ghanaian consular officers; certain immediate family members of diplomatic and consular officers; and the head of a Ghanaian delegation attending an international conference or convention at which countries are officially represented.
The law also makes provision for a further category. A Diplomatic Passport may be issued to a prominent citizen or high public official of Ghana travelling abroad where, in the opinion of Government, the passport is required for the purpose for which the person is travelling.
This provision is worth noting because it means that the category of persons who may receive Diplomatic Passports is not confined to career diplomats. There may be circumstances in which a prominent citizen or high public official is travelling on an assignment for which Government considers a Diplomatic Passport appropriate.
That discretion, however, should not be confused with a general entitlement for prominent people. The provision is tied to the person’s status, the fact that the person is proceeding abroad and, importantly, the purpose for which the person is travelling.
What Does a Diplomatic Passport Actually do?
A Diplomatic Passport can make a significant difference to international travel because countries often distinguish between ordinary travellers and holders of official passports when deciding whether a visa is required.
Ghana’s own current visa-waiver database makes the difference quite striking. As at its latest update on 8 September 2026, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists 41 countries for ordinary Ghanaian passports, 59 for Service Passports and 62 for Diplomatic Passports.
The difference is not merely numerical. For example, the Ministry’s list shows no ordinary-passport visa waiver for countries such as Algeria, Angola, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Malta, Namibia and Serbia, while Service and Diplomatic Passport holders are listed as visa-free for those countries.
There are even countries where the distinction goes further. Hong Kong and Qatar, for example, appear on the Ministry’s list for Diplomatic Passport holders but not Service or ordinary passport holders. Turkey likewise appears with a Diplomatic Passport waiver but not for Service or ordinary passports.
That is a substantial practical benefit. It can mean that a Ghanaian who would ordinarily have to apply for a visa, submit documents, pay a fee and wait for approval may, when travelling on an official passport under the relevant arrangement, travel without obtaining that visa. Both passports thus carry practical advantages in international travel.
And What About the Service Passport?
The Service Passport occupies a different place in the statutory scheme. Section 7 of NLCD 155 provides that the Minister responsible may issue a special passport to any public officer or other citizen of Ghana proceeding abroad on the official business of the Government of Ghana, where that person is not someone to whom a Diplomatic Passport may be issued under section 6.
A Service Passport is therefore connected to official Government business. It is not simply a benefit attached to employment in the public service. A person does not qualify merely because he or she works for the Government.
At the same time, the provision is not limited strictly to public officers. It refers to “any public officer or other citizen of Ghana” travelling abroad on official Government business. This recognises that Government may send persons who are not public servants on official assignments and may provide the appropriate travel document for that purpose.
The distinction between the two categories can therefore be put quite simply. A Diplomatic Passport is available to the specific categories identified under section 6, while a Service Passport accommodates official Government travellers who do not fall within those diplomatic categories.
It is not a passport for life
The official nature of these passports also explains why they do not ordinarily become permanent personal entitlements.
A person who leaves an office does not necessarily continue to qualify for a Diplomatic or Service Passport merely because he or she once occupied that office. The justification for the passport is connected to the official role or purpose for which it was issued.
Ghana saw this quite clearly in 2025 when the Government recalled Diplomatic and Service Passports issued to persons who were no longer in qualifying official positions. Passports that were not returned were subsequently cancelled and placed on a stop-list.
That makes sense of the basic principle behind the system. A Diplomatic or Service Passport is not an award for having once been important. It is a State travel document issued for an official purpose.
What Really Is at Stake?
There are two accounts of the controversy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has disclosed an alleged scheme involving the sale of Service Passports and the cancellation of 10 passports issued to persons it says were unqualified. The Minority, however, has made allegations suggesting a wider scheme involving both Diplomatic and Service Passports.
Whether the two accounts can be reconciled, and what the investigations will ultimately establish, are matters we must leave to the appropriate authorities. It would be premature to treat allegations as established facts.
What should not be lost, however, is the weight of the documents allegedly sold. As we have seen, these are not ordinary travel documents. They carry privileges, particularly in the form of visa-waiver arrangements, and are issued under a legal framework that restricts who may receive them and for what purpose.
In all of this, the State’s credibility is perhaps the silent victim. When passports bearing the authority of the Republic are allegedly issued to persons who have no entitlement to them, the damage goes beyond the beneficiaries. It calls into question the integrity of the system and the confidence other states can place in Ghana’s official travel documents.
For anyone who has wondered what makes these passports different, who qualifies for them, and why their issuance has attracted so much attention, hopefully this discussion helps to unravel the legal framework and, more importantly, the weight these documents carry.
