The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, says it has initiated a process to review the Passport and Travel Certificates Law, NLCD 155 of 1967, to bring it into conformity with current developments.
This was revealed on the floor of Parliament, when the Minister for the said Ministry, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, was responding to a question asked by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, on measures the Ministry is putting in place to prevent non-Ghanaian citizens from acquiring Ghanaian passports.
The Minister said a few foreigners have attempted to acquire the Ghanaian passport and quite a few have succeeded in acquiring same through dubious means over the years.
She stated that in order to prevent such occurrences, the Passport Office is continuously embarking on various measures, aimed at ensuring that only citizens of Ghana are issued with Ghana’s passports.
Madam Ayorkor Botchwey intimated that since it is a crime against the State for a foreigner to acquire or attempt to acquire a Ghanaian passport, the Passport Office, in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service, effect the arrest and prosecution of suspected foreigners, who attempt to acquire passports.
She added that this is done to serve as a deterrent to others who may want to engage in such illegal acts. She revealed that currently, there are about four individuals at various stages of prosecution at the courts.
The Minister also indicated that a major challenge in the passport application process is the lack of a national identity card, which is versatile with enhanced security features and a secured database.
She said the Ministry is working with the National Identification Authority, through the provision of input and relevant data, aimed at ensuring that the soon-to-be launched National Identity Card would become the primary document for the issuance of passports to prospective Ghanaians.
