Passport application up by 30% since March 1 – Director

The Director of Passport Francis Kotia says the application of passports in the country has gone up by 30 per cent since the system went strictly online.

According to him, the passport office is putting in place adequate measures to accommodate the leap in application numbers.

“Since the online system came up, we have observed 30 per cent increase in applications. We currently take about 400 applications in a day at the Accra centre and we are working to improve that number to 500,” he said on the Morning Starr Wednesday.

Passport application in Ghana went strictly online since March 1,2020. The objective is to limit direct human involvement and corruption in the passport application process.

Explaining further on the need for the new system, Mr Kotia said the digital platform will enhance efficiency in the system and limit delays.

“Initially people had challenges with it but with time people are getting comfortable with it. We encourage people to patronize it so we can all improve efficiency with the system

“We will do our best to meet timelines too; if we say ten days, then it is ten day and that is what wed have been doing. If you request for express service, we will meet the date and if you request for regular service, within 21 days your book should be ready. And it’s the same across the regions”.

He also disclosed that the passport office is seeking to have centres in all 16 regions in the country before the end of the year.

“Currently we have centres in 7 regions but the plan is to have the centres in all the regions and efforts are underway. We want Ghanaians to be in their home regions and still get their applications processed and delivered in time”.

Source: starrfm.com.gh