Ghanaians will soon get an advanced passport, an upgrade of the current one. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong announced this.
According to the Deputy Minister, the new passport will be ready in six months. However, owners of the current passport can still use theirs for a while.
“When we bring in the chip-embedded, both passports can be used for a period of about a minimum of one year or more,” he told Joy News. “So still you have the biometric, you can use it until a year and half or about two years’ time. We are yet to decide on it.”
According to Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, the fees will stay the same as the newly revised fees. He said though the chip-embedded booklet will be more expensive to produce, the Ministry will be able to handle that.
The fees “…will all stay the same. At least that 100 extra will be able to take care of the extra cost in introducing the chip embedded. The chip embedded cost more but even if we introduce it, we will still be able to charge the same GH₵500 and be able to operate without too much challenges or difficulties.”
Justifying the recent increment in the processing fee, the Minister said all of Ghana’s neighbours are paying more for passports. He mentioned Benin, Burkina Faso and other West African countries which all charge at least $50 for a passport.
“Benin is charging $50 for a passport, Burkina Faso charges $80 which is about GH₵ 960. Cameroon charges $180 that is about GH₵ 2,160, Ivory Coast charges $123, which is about GH₵ 1,500. Gambia charges 50%, Guinea charges $57, Guinea Bissau charges $65, Mali $91, Nigeria $54, Sierra Leone $100, Togo $50, Liberia $40 lowest, Ghana $7 or $8.”
Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong said the increment is to help the Ministry improve on its service delivery to Ghanaians. He said the ministry is not happy with the current delivery, so every measure are taking is towards quality.
“The bottom line is we want to increase and improve service delivery. We are not happy with the level of service we are providing. We have to be very honest about it.”
