Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs exhibited unfairness and bad faith when it ‘ignored’ the Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs to increase passport prices.
Speaking on Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV, the lawmaker explained that when the issue was brought before the committee, it asked for further clarification and roadmap for the increment only to be sidelined.
“Is this the time that you should just be increasing passports? With this module, they couldn’t even consider a graduated approach as we recommended that even after they brought the financials and we have conceded, and we think that they’ve made a case, that should be the path for it, so bad faith, the matter is not concluded…. The chairman’s ruling was that they should go and come back later, because if you ask me today as a Ranking member of Foreign Affairs Committee, how much it costs to print a passport, I can’t tell you,” said North Tongu legislator on Friday, April 6.
He also added that “for almost 10 years, Ghana has been preparing to introduce a chip embedded passport, this current increment, is it for the existing biometric passport which appears to be the case which we are fading out, the Foreign Minister announced that in 6 months, she is hoping that we will introduce the chip embedded passport which Ghana should have concluded years ago. Will this new fee structure be reviewed or is this been done in anticipation?” he queried.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa bemoans the fact that he has been subjected to attacks and perceived to have colluded with the Foreign Ministry to increase passport prices. However, the fact remains that he was against an outrageous increment.
“During the week, I have been subjected to barrage of attacks, some have said that I supported this in secrecy, at the committee level, behind the scenes, my public objection to this is hypocritical, I’m exhibiting double standards, I mean I have been called all kinds of names, but the verbatim report, what transpired at the Foreign Affairs Committee will settle the scores,” he said.
The new increment means that a standard 32-page passport will now cost 500 cedis from the previous 100 cedis, while a 48-page booklet will cost 644 cedis from the previous price of 200.
For expedited services, citizens will have to pay 700 and 800 cedis for a 32-page and 48-page booklet respectively
The Majority in Parliament has justified the increase in prices for passport acquisition in Ghana.
According to the group, the subsidy of passport fees by 400 Ghana Cedis should not solely benefit the 20% of Ghanaians who require passports for travel, as it is not equitable.
By: Vanessa Edotom Boateng | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
