TIG Post

Tag: passport scandal

  • How much does it cost to get a passport in Ghana?

    How much does it cost to get a passport in Ghana?

    Getting a passport in Ghana is a process that requires applicants to pay certain fees and provide some documents. The fees vary depending on the type of application and the number of pages of the passport. The documents include proof of citizenship, identity, and profession.

    According to the Online Passport Application website, there are four types of passport applications available:

    •  Expedited Application 48 Pages: This costs GHS 200.00

    •  Expedited Application 32 Pages: This costs GHS 150.00

    •  Standard Application 32 Pages: This costs GHS 100.00

    •  Standard Application 48 Pages: This costs GHS 150.00

    To complete an application, applicants have to purchase passport forms online via Mobile Money or Visa/MasterCard. They also have to select the Passport Application Centre (PAC) of their choice and book an appointment date. There are 14 PACs across the country, including Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Sunyani, Ho, Tamale, Ridge, Tema, Koforidua, Cape Coast and Wa.

    The documents required for the passport application depend on the category of the applicant. For first-time applicants, they need to scan and attach the following documents:

    •  Birth Certificate (Proof of Ghanaian citizenship)

    •  Documents to support Identity such as Driver’s Licence, National ID card

    •  Proof of Profession (An introductory letter from the applicant’s employer that is if the applicant is currently employed or a work ID card that bears applicant’s name, organisation’s name and position. A student ID if the applicant is currently in school. Homemakers/housewives and applicants that are unemployed and those in the non-formal sector of employment like mechanics, hairdressers seamstresses, traders etc. do not need proof. Registered Business Owners and self-employed applicants must produce their business registration certificate as proof)

    For renewal applicants, they need to scan and attach the following documents:

    •  First page and bio-data page with picture and information page

    •  Valid Visa if applicant has any in Old Passport

    •  Last page

    •  Proof of Profession if changed

    For missing passport applicants, they need to scan and attach the following documents:

    •  Police Report

    •  Affidavit

    •  Proof of Identity

    •  Birth Certificate

    For damaged passport applicants, they need to scan and attach the following documents:

    •  Old damaged passport

    For change of name applicants, they need to scan and attach the following documents:

    •  Marriage/Divorce Certificate

    •  Affidavit

    •  Gazette

    For applicants below 18 years, they need to scan and attach the following documents:

    •  Birth certificate

    •  Parents or Guardians ID

    Upon submission of the online application, applicants will have their biometric data captured and a picture taken at the PAC. They will then be given a date for the collection of the passport.

    The Online Passport Application website also provides information on how to track the status of the application, how to report any issues or complaints, and how to contact customer service for any enquiries.

    The Online Passport Application system was launched in 2017 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to improve the efficiency and convenience of passport acquisition in Ghana. It is part of the government’s efforts to digitise public services and enhance e-governance in the country.

    Interested persons are advised to visit the Passport Application page on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration website to verify these details and also any update on the process.

  • Ex-Comoros president given life sentence over passport fraud

    The former president, who had already been imprisoned for four years before his trial, is a rival to the country’s current leader.

    According to regional media reports and the AFP news agency, a court in Comoros sentenced ex-President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi to life in prison for “high treason.”

    Tanzania Daily News reports that, Sambi, a political rival of incumbent President Azali Assoumani, was sentenced by the State Security Court, a special judicial body whose rulings cannot be appealed, for selling passports to stateless people living in the Gulf.

    “He betrayed the mission entrusted to him by the Comorians,” public prosecutor Ali Mohamed Djounaid accused in the court as he requested for a life sentence.

    Sambi, 64, who led the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago nation between 2006 and 2011, enacted a law in 2008 allowing the sale of passports for high fees.

    The controversial scheme was aimed to give nationality to the so-called Bidoon – an Arab minority numbering in the tens of thousands who cannot obtain citizenship.

    According to Djounaid, the former president embezzled $1.8bn under the fraudulent scheme – more than the gross domestic product of the impoverished nation.

    Local media quoted Emmanuel Sossa, a lawyer for civilian plaintiffs, as saying: “They gave thugs the right to sell Comorian nationality as if they were selling peanut.”

    Sambi’s lawyer Jean- Gilles Halimi, however, refuted the accusations, saying no evidence had been provided for the missing monies and no bank accounts had been put forward to suggest a crime.

    Sambi refused to attend the trial on the grounds that there were no guarantees he would be judged fairly. He briefly appeared once with his defence asking the judge to recuse himself since he had previously sat on the panel that decided to indict him.

    The former leader, who was originally charged with corruption, had already spent four years in prison before he faced a trial. He was previously placed under house arrest for allegedly disturbing public order.

    Three months later he was put under pre-trial detention for embezzlement, corruption and forgery, in the so-called “economic citizenship” scandal, before being slapped with high treason charges.

    Among the defendants was French-Syrian businessman Bashar Kiwan, who accused the government of seeking to pressure him into testifying against the former president in exchange for a pardon.

    The Comoros presidency has formally denied these accusations.

    The Comoros islands – Anjouan, Grande Comore and Moheli – have endured years of grinding poverty and political turmoil, including about 20 coups or attempted coups, since independence from France in 1975.