Immigration Service to establish passport application centres

Page 15, Dec 16, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) is to establish seven passport application centres throughout the country to process machine readable passports with biometric data, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, has revealed.
Ghana, as a member of the International Civil Aviation Authority, is under obligation to begin using machine readable passports with biometric data by April 2010.
The seven centres will be located in Accra, Tamale, Ho, Sekondi/Takoradi, Kumasi, Sunyani and the Passport Office.
Alhaji Mumuni made this known when he appeared before Parliament on Monday to answer a question posed by the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma North, Mr Joe Appiah.
The MP wanted to know when the ministry would operationalise the decentralisation of the issuance of Ghanaian passports and ensure the elimination of the activities of middlemen.
Alhaji Mumuni said one key requirement for the issuance of the new passports would be the need for applicants to present themselves in person at the passport application centres for their biometric data to be captured.
He explained that for the issuance of biometric passport, a new application process and form had been designed, adding that the new application form would be sold at designated banks.
The Foreign Minister stated that there would be one-time payment, in that the cost of the application form would also include the passport processing fee.
On the elimination of middlemen, Alhaji Mumuni said under the decentralisation of the acquisition of passport under the current practice, passport application forms and those for other travel documents were sold at designated banks throughout the country.
He said it was regrettable that in spite of the relatively simple process and the requirement that passport application forms be submitted by the prospective applicants themselves, proxies succeeded in presenting applications on behalf of applicants.
“Instead of approaching the Passport Office, applicants tend to use middlemen who create the impression that they can deliver the passports timeously. Some applicants have had to pay more than the approved fees to such middlemen,” he stated.
The minister said it was the attempt to solve that problem, among others, that, under public sector reforms, a Client Service Unit was created at the Passport Office to attend to the general public twice weekly with the view to addressing complaints relating to passport acquisition.