Ghana Announces Plans To Roll Out Chip-Embedded Passports: E-Passports To Be Introduced Before End Of 2023

• Ghana is bracing for the roll-out of a chip-embedded passport or e-passport before the end of 2023
• Director of Passports Alhaji Mohammed Habid Idris says the e-passports are the way to go for Ghana because of their enhanced security features
• Ghana has since October 2022 been gearing up for the roll-out of the innovative e-passports that have already been introduced in about 150 countries

Ghana is preparing to roll out progressive chip-embedded passports by the close of the end of 2023 to enhance the integrity and security of the country's passports.

Director of Passport Alhaji Mohammed Habib Idris told state-owned Daily Graphic that Ghana will soon migrate onto the e-passport regime in line with best international best practices.

If Ghana's passports become chip-embedded, the country will join the league of about 150 countries currently using chip-embedded passports.

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"The nation’s decision to switch from the current biometric system to the chip-embedded passport is also to comply with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) member countries,” he told the state-owned media.

How chip-embedded passports work

Chip-embedded passports or e-passports are electronic and hold the same information that is printed on the passport's data page.

That is the name of the holder, his/her date of birth, and other biometric information are captured electronically.

An e-passport also has contains a biometric identifier.

The US, for instance, requires that the chip contain a digital photograph of the holder.

In the UK, people who hold e-passports can use them at border control for faster entry into the country.

Ghana has been gearing up for e-passports since 2022

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Since October last year, Ghana has been gearing up for the chip-embedded passports.

Foreign affairs minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey disclosed in 2022 that e-passports are the way to go because of their high security features.

She made the remark when she visited the Greater Accra Passport Application Centre (PAC) near Tema Station and the Passport Head Office at Ridge, all in Accra.

Passport offices choked by over 30,000 unclaimed passports

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported in a previous story that the ministry of foreign affairs made a passionate appeal for members of the public who have applied for passports to come for them.

The ministry said in a press statement issued on January 30, 2023, that there are over 30,000 completed but uncollected passports at the various Passport Application Centres.

The foreign affairs ministry said it was important for the books to be collected because they would be required during a renewal.

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Nigerian man jailed in Ghana for 450 days for illegal attempts to acquire a Ghanaian passport

Also, in a separate story, a Nigerian man has been jailed in Ghana for attempting to acquire a Ghanaian passport with fake documents on two occasions.

Peter Michael Ifeanyi said he was a Ghanaian named Peter Yaw Asare, but passport office officials suspected that he was not Ghanaian.

After interrogating his documents further, immigration officials found that he had been arrested in the past for the same offence and was jailed for 450 days by a circuit court.

Source: YEN.com.gh