Ghanaian missions abroad have been hit with shortage of machine readable passport forms, TV3 has gathered.
As a result, most Ghanaians with expired passports are issued travel certificates in order to enable them travel back home.
Addressing Ecowas media network, CDP, in Accra on Friday, April 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Hannah Serwaa Tetteh disclosed that the country has been unable to provide machine readable passport booklets to its foreign missions since October, 2015.
She stated, however, that forms of Ghanaians are sent back home to be processed.
“Because of that the demand for passports has spiked considerably and much more than our usual national demand,” she said.
She, however, blamed the inability of her ministry to provide the booklets on the Controller and Accountant General’s Department.
“That is what has caused the pressure on us,” she admitted, hinting that the booklets have been promised by next week.
Ms Tetteh promised that the delays in processing passports will be over in a month’s time if the machine readable passport booklets are delivered by the Department as promised.
Source: GhanaWeb
