The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, has said there will be no grace period for the conversion of old passports into biometric ones after 2015. Addressing Ghanaian residents in Switzerland in Bern last Sunday, Alhaji Mumuni said the next five years was enough for Ghanaians holding the old passports to convert them into the biometric ones, which possessed all the security features. Explaining the rationale behind the country's switch to the biometric passports, the Foreign Affairs Minister said the new biometric Passports could not be faked as was the case of the old passports which were forged by many and used to engage in bad acts to tarnish the image of Ghana abroad. In addition, Alhaji Mumuni further explained that Ghana was also conforming to statutes of the International Aviation Organisation, which require that all member countries should have biometric passports. Commenting on the future implementation of the Representation of the Peoples Amendment Law (ROPAL), Alhaji Mumuni said it was the intention of the government that the issue should be tackled through a bi-partisan approach. The Foreign Minister said the issue was at the moment before the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), which was expected to liaise with the Electoral Commission to deliberate on the issue. Alhaji Mumuni reminded the gathering that the EC told the former government of its inability to implement the Act to enable those living in the Diaspora to exercise their franchise due to financial, man power and logistical problems. Touching on the issue of dual citizenship, the Foreign Affairs Minister said the government had instituted measures intended to fine-tune all processes associated with its implementation. He advised the gathering to be law-abiding and take active interest in developments at home by making constructive opinions towards the development of the country. Source: Daily Graphic