New Passport Fees: Your noise won’t change anything – Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Reintegration has said there will be no reconsideration of the recent adjustments to passport application fees.

This response follows comments from Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament and MP for North Tongu, who labeled the new fees as draconian and advocated their reversal.

Effective April 1, the ministry increased application fees for passport services, setting them at GH¢500 for a 32-page standard booklet and GH¢644 for a 48-page standard booklet.

Additionally, expedited services now incur fees of GH¢700 for the 32-page option and GH¢800 for the 48-page option.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, reaffirmed that the fees would remain unchanged despite calls for a review.

Mr. Ampratwum-Sarpong emphasised the necessity of the fee adjustments for investing in and enhancing service delivery, stating that any attempts to challenge the decision would not succeed.

He told journalists: “With the support of the majority of Ghanaians, it has come to stay”, adding: “There is nothing he [Mr Ablakwa] can do about it. He can make his noise out there. If he wants to bring it to Parliament, we will meet him on the floor of Parliament, we will discuss it and will debate it; and at the end of the day, I can bet my last cedi he will fall flat on his face”.

“The reason why we are introducing this, like I said, principally, is the fact that we need to invest and improve service delivery”, he explained.