Passport application centres to be established in all 16 regions – Ablakwa

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Samuel Okudzato Ablakwa, has unveiled plans to establish passport application centers in all 16 regions of Ghana.

This initiative aims to ease the burden on the existing application facility in Accra, which has been struggling with high demand and long processing times.

Ablakwa made this announcement while responding to questions on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, March 12.

He emphasised that decentralising passport application services will make it easier for Ghanaians across the country to access and process their travel documents without necessarily traveling to the capital.

According to Ablakwa, while there are no immediate plans to establish passport application centers at the district level, the government is confident that regional offices will be sufficient to meet the needs of citizens.

“Our plan now is to regionalise and make sure we have passport application centers in all the 16 regions of Ghana. We do not currently have plans to have district offices.

“We take the view that the reforms we are carrying out, the delivery, the 24-hour operations, reducing the waiting period and all of that, should suffice once you have regional offices and the courier service will make sure that your passport is delivered to you wherever you are in the region.”

Currently, the primary passport application center in Accra handles an overwhelming number of applicants daily.

Many citizens from different parts of the country are forced to travel long distances to submit their applications, leading to increased costs, congestion, and long waiting periods.

There have also been complaints about inefficiencies, including delays in processing and difficulty in securing appointments.