Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has announced a special bonus for staff of Ghana’s Passport administration following a recent Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) report which ranked the institution among the country’s most transformed and least corrupt public institutions.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, August 15, Mr Ablakwa said he made a working visit to the Passport head office to congratulate management and staff on the recognition and commend them for their performance.

He said the government would reward passport administration staff with a special bonus next week in recognition of their work.

“I announced that all passport administration staff will receive a special bonus next week for their impressive output as highlighted by the GSS survey,” he said.

Mr Ablakwa said the recognition was evidence of the impact of ongoing reforms within the passport administration and pledged to maintain the changes aimed at improving service delivery.

“We shall continue with our radical reforms driven by integrity, professionalism, innovation, client satisfaction and excellence,” he said.

Highlighting what he described as the achievements of the passport reforms, the Minister said Ghana now has one of the most advanced and secure chip-embedded passports in the world.

He said Ghanaian passports are also now considered among the most valuable on the African continent, with premium visa waiver status that has improved their value to holders.

According to Mr Ablakwa, the passport administration has also cleared all application backlogs following the introduction of 24-hour operations.

He said applicants can now receive their passports within a few working days, with processing taking less than 15 days in many cases, without the involvement of middlemen or so-called “goro boys”.

The Minister said the cost of obtaining a passport had also been reduced by 30 per cent to make the service more affordable to Ghanaians.

He added that courier services had been introduced to improve convenience and allow passports to be delivered quickly to applicants at no additional cost.

Mr Ablakwa further said same-day passport processing was now possible under the reforms, while a digital tracking system had been introduced to allow applicants to monitor the progress of their applications.

He said enhanced security protocols had also been put in place to prevent foreigners from illegally acquiring Ghanaian passports.

Another major development, he said, was the establishment of Passport Application Centres in all 16 regions of Ghana for the first time.

Mr Ablakwa said the reforms formed part of a broader effort to transform the Passport Administration into a more efficient, secure and customer-focused public service.

He said the government would continue to pursue reforms centred on integrity, professionalism, innovation and client satisfaction as it seeks to improve the experience of Ghanaians applying for passports.