Over 30,000 Passports Uncollected

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration is urging the public, especially those who applied for passports sometime ago, to go for them at their various centres.

According to the ministry, its centres have in excess of 30, 000 printed passports gathering dust at its Accra and Kumasi centres yet to be collected.

In a statement issued yesterday, January 30, 2023 and sighted by The Anchor, it said, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration wishes to inform the general public, particularly passport applicants, about the urgent need for them to collect their printed passports from the various Passports Application Centres (PACs).”

It further said, it is concerned that even though applicants of these passports have been informed about the status of their application, they have not made the effort to go for collection.

“The Ministry is concerned that, even though applicants have been informed through text messages that their passports have been printed and sent to the various Passport Application Centres, most of them are yet to be collected.

The Accra and Kumasi Passports Application Centres alone have about thirty thousand (30,000) uncollected passports,” the statement said.

It therefore called on the applicants whose passports are still with the centres to immediately go for them.

In view of the above, the Ministry is calling on passport applicants who are yet to collect their passports to visit their respective Passport Application Centre to do so, as they would be required for future renewal.

In the past, many have expressed concern about their inability to acquire the Ghanaian passport.

While official communication had attributed the situation to a shortage of booklets, applicants insisted the situation was due to alleged naked corruption at the passport offices.

Some had applied for the passport for months, but they were delayed until desperate ones parted with extra cash before they were able to acquire one through “Goro Boys.”

The statement further said Passport Applicants can also call the Ministry’s Client Service Unit on the following numbers to inform the status of their passport applications – 0240793072 or 0240913284.

Below Is Published, The Full Statement:

Source: Anchorghana