138,067 Biometric Passports Issued

Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni

ABOUT 138,067 biometric passports have so far been issued nationwide by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.

Chris Kpodo, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, who disclosed this in Parliament yesterday, on behalf of the sector minister, indicated that the number included 444 diplomatic and service passports.

He added that out of the number of passports issued, 75,912 were issued expressly within three days for a fee of GH¢100 per applicant, whilst 62,142 were issued regularly within 15 days for GH¢50.

According to him, in the past, some of the diplomatic passports were issued to people who were not entitled to them and that the ministry was doing everything possible to eliminate such a practice.

The deputy minister also lamented that 666 passports issued by the passport office had not been collected by the applicants, questioning whether the owners actually needed them.

The biometric passport, a new type of passport which issuance began in April 2010, is suppose to replace the old ones that would no longer be in use by 2015.

Answering a question from the Member of Parliament for Agona East, John Agyabeng, on the current state of the implementation of the Biometric Passport Project, Mr. Kpodo said the issuance of the new passports 'had been characterized by considerable delays and huge backlog due to various operational constraints.'

However, he noted that the procedures involved in issuing the passports had since been streamlined and additional equipment installed by the passport office.

The measures, Mr. Kpodo further observed, had greatly enhanced the productive capacity of the passport office, and enabled it to clear the previous backlog and issue passports within stipulated deadlines, except in cases where there were problems with specific applications submitted.

He announced that Biometric Passport Application centres had since been established in Greater Accra, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Western and Northern regional capitals.

These centres, Mr. Kpodo pointed out, were all operational and applicants in the various regions no longer needed to travel to Accra to obtain their passports,  although some applicants still did so out of choice or ignorance about the existence of the centres.

He gave the assurance that the centre for Volta Region, in Ho, would become operational by mid July 2011.

According to Mr. Kpodo, Ghana's diplomatic missions abroad had been provided with the standard list of equipment required for them to process biometric passports, and had been directed to source the hardware in their respective areas of accreditation.

He said thereafter, Buck Press, the Ghanaian company undertaking the project, would visit the missions for installation and training of staff to kick-start the processing of the passports.

Mr. Kpodo said the implementation of the biometric passport project would prevent non-citizens from acquiring Ghanaian passport.

By Awudu Mahama