Evidence Of Weak Institutions: The Passport Office

“The greatest Patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously”-Julian Barnes.

I was in Kumasi, earlier this week for an assignment and passed by the Regional Passport Office to see things for myself and what I saw was the true picture being painted to me always by people who go through a lot of frustration to get a Ghanaian Passport.

President Barack Obama visited Ghana and told us in plain English language that, what we needed as a country were STRONG institutions not STRONG men. Our leaders then were busily taken photos of Obama with their phones so whatever he said at the Accra International Conference Center was taken away by the sea breeze.

Every sound Ghanaian who wants to acquire a travelling passport shouldn’t go through the hell we are seeing and feeling now. Acquiring a passport in Ghana is now something only the rich and ready to pay kick backs people in the society are entitled to! what crime have we committed as citizens of Akua Ghana when we want to get our own Country’s travelling Passport.

People are paying not less than Ghc1,000.00 to get nothing but a GHANAIAN BIOMETRIC PASSPORT. Foreigners go through these procedures smoothly whiles well meaning Ghanaians have to pay money or wait in vain till thy kingdom come!

What stops the Foreign Minister and her officials from thinking outside the box and implement a policy that will save the poor Ghanaian who toils to get 100.00 to purchase a form and have to wait for almost 2yrs and come back and be told the process have still not gotten through yet.

Another takes the backdoor and pay money to an official and he or she gets the passport not less than a month. Then what is the essence in selling the forms and categorilizing it in Express and Normal when people have to pay bribes before they get it,be it Express or Normal?

Lucky Dube said it right; we are living in a crazy world! Ghana is not a failed state, but our Leaders after Osagyefo have been misleading, selfish, greedy and self centered!!

My heart aches when people go to the passport office at 3am and return back home at 7pm without they going through the process. We go through hell to get passports as if we are going in for the UK Visa! Our leaders have failed us totally. Poor policies and lack of creativity,

The Passport process should be decentralized to Districts if the load is too much for the Regions, which will go a long way to reduce the corrupt practices currently ongoing.

It is high time citizens’ wake up and tell our governments we are tired of being slaves in our own Motherland. We vote them into power to solve such problems not to come and compound it.

Our Institutions are very weak paving way for corrupt practices. The fight against corruption will only be successful when well meaning Ghanaians stand up for their rights and hold the government on power accountable for such weakness in our institutions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Passport Office and the Ghana Immigration Service should sit up and bring out policies that will go a long to solve this impasse.

You can contact the writer on 0249542342/0508609109.