Samuel Abu Jinapor, Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, has criticized the Mahama administration for what he describes as an attempt to claim undue credit for Ghana’s new chip-embedded biometric passport programme.
Speaking after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ April 28, 2025, launch of the “mass rollout” of the new passports, Jinapor argued that the project was fully conceived, funded, and operationalized under former President Akufo-Addo’s leadership, long before the Mahama government took office in January 2025.
“We built it,” the Damongo MP stated firmly, stressing that everything from procurement and financing to execution was completed by the previous government.
He revealed that former President Akufo-Addo had officially launched the project on December 2, 2024, with 50,000 passports already in stock and another 200,000 on order.
Jinapor dismissed the current rollout as nothing more than a “re-launch” of an already finished project, accusing the Mahama administration of engaging in political public relations and attempting to rewrite history.
He highlighted the Akufo-Addo government’s commitment to meeting international ICAO travel standards and its successful use of a public-private partnership (PPP) model to avoid burdening public finances.
The project was executed through a partnership involving 25th Century Technology Limited, Buck Press Limited, and the joint venture Biometric Travel Solutions Limited.
Jinapor and the Minority warned that politicizing completed projects wastes public resources and undermines institutional transparency.
“What matters now is not who cuts the ribbon again, but how effectively the system is rolled out to benefit Ghanaians,” Jinapor said, urging the Mahama administration to focus on implementation rather than political fanfare.
