Passports to be given at birth – Kusi Boafo

Ghanaians may soon be receiving their Passports at birth, in order to cut out the frustration involved in acquiring the document, a government official has hinted.

Ghanaians have over the years bemoaned the difficulties in renewing or procuring a new passport as many are on daily basis subjected to long delays in queues at passport offices in Accra.

Several measures by government including plans to decentralize the passport office have not been able to resolve the bottlenecks in acquiring a passport.

Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Wednesday, the Chief Executive Officer of Public Sector Reform at the Presidency Professor Kusi Boafo said several public sector institutions must be modernized in order for them to serve their purpose.

“We are bringing in a new public sector reform policy. There is no single public institution in Ghana that can deliver proper public good. Go and see DVLA, the passport office, Ports & Harbors…etc. If passports are very necessary, then passports are supposed to be made on the day of birth, and that is what we are trying to work on,” he said.

He however noted it will take the nation enough time to get things working properly even if the right approaches are adopted.

“We are not honest as citizens and so we are not willing to open up. As we begin to formalize, it will take us time to formalize. It will take us about 5 to 10 years to formalize”.

Professor Kusi also condemned the manner in which vehicles were disposed of by the state under the former administration.

“786 brand new cars were disposed of by the previous government at very cheap prices. Cars that could last for 10 years were sold within a week, few months and a year. How could we have built a nation with this attitude”.