We have not agreed to accept Ghana Card as e-passport - ICAO denies reports
- ICAO has said that it is not in their place to accept or approve the use of the Ghana Card as an e-passport
- According to the international organization, only a country had the sovereign right of accepting which national ID can be accepted as a means of documentation for air travel
- This follows reports that the organization had approved the Ghana Card to be accepted as an e-passport in some countries
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The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has said that media reports that it has agreed tha the Ghana Card, is equivalent to an electronic passport are incorrect.
In a report sighted by YEN.com.gh on 3news, the international organization said the power to accept any national identification card as a passport lay with the government of that particular country.
Source: Instagram
“...It is the sovereign right of each individual state to decide upon its entry and exit requirements and the documents that need to be presented by those travelling to and/or from its territory”, ICAO said in a statement it released on Twitter on Friday, February 11, 2022.
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In the same Twitter thread the United Nations specialized agency for civil aviation emphasized that it is not its role to certify the use of a member’s ID card for international travel in place of a passport.
“Any decision to accept such alternative travel identity document is made by the receiving state itself,” the statement continued to read.
This follows reports suggesting that ICAO had given the green light for the Ghana Card to pass as a passport.
In 2021, vice president of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said ICAO will recognise the Ghana Card as an e-passport by the first quarter of 2022.
ICAO Congratulates Ghana
The international outfit, days earlier, congratulated Ghana over the West African country's decision to join the Public Key Directory (PKD) programme of the ICAO.
The news came with a huge sigh of relief with many people believing that the country had now been given the approval to use just the Ghana Card as a sole document for air travel outside the country.
Ghana Card now accepted as e-passport in 44,000 airports across the world
YEN.com.gh earlier reported that the national identification card, which has come to be known as the Ghana Card, had now been recognized as an e-passport, allowing holders to travel across the world.
If everything goes as planned, the card would now grant Ghanaians access to about 97 borders and 44,000 airports across the globe.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in a report sighted by YEN.com.gh on pulse.com.gh gave its approval for the card to be recognized as a valid passport.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
