Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has reiterated the government’s dedication to simplifying the passport acquisition process in Ghana.
He believes leveraging President John Mahama’s much-anticipated 24-hour policy could improve efficiency and reduce the waiting time for applicants.
According to Mr. Ablakwa, the government intends to employ about 100 more staff members, aimed at establishing a 24-hour passport application system to cut down the processing time to just one week.
“We’ve allocated provisions to employ approximately 100 additional staff in the 2025 budget to launch the 24-hour passport application process and reduce the passport processing time to one week,” he stated while speaking to the media.
This announcement follows his revelation that the passport office holds over 75,000 unclaimed passports.
He plans an audit of these passports and to contact their rightful owners for delivery.
To better serve the public, he also plans to roll out a courier service that will deliver these passports once they are reunited with their owners.
Ablakwa made these comments during an interview with TV3 in Accra, emphasising, “We will roll out a courier system so that applicants can receive their passports wherever they are. There must be a clear indication of who the applicants are, and if addresses are available, we will call them,” he stated.
The minister further discussed the accountability of ambassadors and high commissioners, stating that they will be assigned key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure their effectiveness.
“Ambassadors who do not meet KPIs will be removed. Every month we expect reports and we expect you to do major reforms,” he added.