The deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratum Sarpong, has hinted that Ghanaian passport fee will go up after consultations with Parliament.
Sarpong said Ghana’s passport application fee is the lowest in West Africa at US$8, which is not enough to purchase the necessary equipment to fast-track the processing time.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday (28 November), Sarpong said, “For example, we are not able to undertake the capturing of biometric data as people would have expected and we are not able to print the booklets; it all boils down to the issue of resources.”
“As we speak, we don’t have enough computers to be able to do the capturing, and as we speak, we don’t have enough printers to print the passport booklets,” he added.
The ministry said even though it has been able to clear the backlog of over 300,000, it still has a long way to go.
“On average, we receive 5,000 applications a day; we are only able to print 3,000 maximum, so every single day, there’s a backlog of 2,000; by the end of the week, it’s 10,000,” Sarpong added.
There has been several complaints about delays in the issuance of passports, which prompted the ministry to take certain measures to address the challenge.
“So, the Ghana card is helping to make it easier for our compatriots who are travelling from outside and coming to Ghana. The problem we have at the passport office, which in a way has contributed to the activities of the gorro boys [middle men], is that we are not able to be on top of what we are supposed to do.,” he added.
Reporting by Gemma Appiah in Accra
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