Passports To Be Ready In 5 Days

Starting form October this year, the Passport Office will process applications and issue out passports within five days.

This will be made possible with the installation of a new software known as the biometric system.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has signed an agreement with Buck Press to install the software, which is expected to be operational by October.

The director of passport, Mr Kwesi Quartey, who announced this when the minister for public sector reforms, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, paid a day's working visit to the place said the software would be installed in all the 10 regions to be linked to a central data point and connected to the Internet.

He explained that under the system, fingerprints and pictures would be scanned and data stored in a central database to make it impossible for people to duplicate passports. He said the system would ensure that passport applications were processed within five days.

Mr Quartey said one major problem facing his outfit was the use of fake birth certificates by applicants and hoped that when the National Identification System became operational the problem would be solved.

He said between 18 and 20 thousand passports were processed monthly.