Passport Application: Foreign Affairs Ministry Releases Hotlines And Processing Fees To Fight "Goro Boys"

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has released new hotlines to deal with complaints and mistreatments during passport applications
• The statement clarified that passport applicants are not expected to pay huge sums of money in cash, as is the case when applications go through middlemen
• Before the statement, the foreign affairs minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, lamented the continued corruption at the Passport Office

The Foreign Affairs inistry has released special hotlines to deal with complaints of extortion and mistreatment at the Passport Office.

The ministry has said in a statement that passport applicants who suffer any mistreatment or extortion can call the numbers to have their issues addressed.

The ministry said in the press statement that the matter of unauthorised personnel or "Goro Boys" extorting money from passport applicants is a source of great concern.

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The numbers are as follows:

• 024-091-3284
• 024-079-3072
• 020-455-2056
• 020-455-2750
• 026-804-9031
• 026-979-4871

Foreign Affairs ministry clarifies processing fees

The ministry stressed that new applications should be made on the passport application portal — passport.mfa.gov.gh — and payment for the approved processing fees for the passport should be made on the ghana.gov.gh platform.

The ministry clarified that the processing fee for a 32-page booklet is GH¢100 and for a 48-page booklet is GH¢150. Also, payment is made only electronically.

"As part of measures to be implemented, all officers will be made to wear name tags. The public is thereby advised not to engage any person who is unable to identify themselves with the issued name tags, as they most likely are middlemen, usually referred to as 'goro boys'," the ministry said.

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Foreign Affairs minister fumes over Goro Boys cartel at Passport Office

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh has reported in a separate story that the foreign affairs minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has lamented the continued corruption at the passport office in Accra.

The minister has relieved all staff seconded to the office as part of attempts to clean up the system.

Botchwey has also said there will be an investigation into the conduct of personnel at the passport office in Accra.

Ghana announces plan to roll out chip-embedded passports

Ghana is, however, bracing for the rollout of a chip-embedded passport or e-passport before the end of 2023.

Director of Passports Alhaji Mohammed Habid Idris said 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 rollout of the innovative e-passports that have already been introduced in about 150 countries.

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

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