The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has given its seal of approval for Ghana’s National Identity Card also known as ‘Ghana Card’ to be recognized globally as a valid e-passport.
Thus, holders of the Ghana Card as well as its future biometric equivalents can present it as official documentation at all the 197 (ICAO) compliant countries and the 44,000 airports worldwide and board flights to Ghana.
This follows a “Key Ceremony” on Wednesday, February 9, 2022, at the headquarters of ICAO in Montreal, Canada, during which Ghana, represented by the High Commissioner to Canada, H.E. Ransford Sowah, received the ‘key’ to symbolically indicate the country’s entry into the ICAO family.
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has disclosed that it has no knowledge about the fact the Ghana Card is to be used globally as a valid E-passport as it was news to the Ministry and cannot authenticate that.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong who disclosed this in an interview further explained that the report could be coming from a higher authority because his Minister and her two deputies of which he was part were not privy to the said report.
“As of yesterday at 9:00 pm, I was in a meeting with my Minister and she denied that and said the topic is news to her because officially the report is not from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The report is not emanating from my Ministry; hence officially I cannot confirm that Ghana Card is now an e-passport”, he stated.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration says plans are afoot to introduce the Chip Embedded Passports this year to enhance the security features of the current passport system.
The sector Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchway announced this at a media briefing in Accra.
The Ministry, she said, has also established thirteen (13) Passport Application Centres across the country to ease congestion, especially in Accra, Tamale and Kumasi.
However, the Ministry says it currently does not have the thirty-eight-page passport booklet in stock due to supply chain constraints globally even though efforts were in place to ensure these were received soonest.
