Ablakwa Outlines Plans to Modernize Ghana’s Passport Acquisition Process
Ablakwa Outlines Plans to Modernize Ghana’s Passport Acquisition Process
The Minister-Designate for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has unveiled plans to streamline and modernize Ghana’s passport acquisition process to improve efficiency and convenience for applicants.
Addressing concerns over delays and inefficiencies, Ablakwa acknowledged widespread complaints about the difficulty of obtaining passports in a timely manner.
“There are too many complaints about how difficult it is to get passports and receive them on time. From my review of recent briefs, I have discovered that there is a backlog of over 70,000 uncollected passports,” he revealed.
As part of the proposed reforms, Ablakwa suggested integrating the Ghana Card with the passport system to enable applicants to complete the process remotely.
“If you have a Ghana Card, you should not have to visit a passport application centre in person. The system should allow you to apply from home through a seamless digital interface,” he explained.
He also emphasized the need to eliminate the requirement for applicants to physically collect their passports, proposing that courier services be engaged to deliver passports directly to applicants’ homes or offices.
Highlighting the importance of digital transformation, Ablakwa noted that these reforms are particularly crucial as Ghana transitions from the current biometric passport system to a more advanced chip-embedded system.
The minister-designate made these commitments during his vetting before the Appointments Committee in Parliament, outlining passport modernization as a key priority for his administration.
