The Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong says the Passport Office has over 70 thousand unprinted passports despite applicants going through the process.

This, according to him, is due to obsolete equipment and lack of printers.

In an interview with JoyNews’ on Wednesday, April 3, he said the situation could get worse if steps are not taken to fix the challenges facing the office.

“Computers, we cannot buy. The capturing machines, we cannot buy. The printers, we cannot buy, we cannot afford.

“As we speak right now if you go and make an application for a passport and you want a booking for your biometrics, you will get it in December because we do not have the capturing machines to be able to capture, so if you go in today, you will get it in December and I can tell you if you go in next week, it might be next year,” he said.

He emphasised that currently, printing a passport takes about eight months to a year but if nothing is done, the timeline will increase.

“At the moment with digitalization, passport applications in a day is about 5000 minimum across the nation, the maximum we are able to print after stretching ourselves is 3000, so every day there is a backlog of 2000, a week 1000, so one month 40,000, as we speak we have 70,000 sitting there."

Earlier this week, the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced a 400 percent increase in passport fees, but the Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa described the fees as harsh and called for a review.

Responding to the issue, the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister maintained that there would be no reconsideration of the fees.

According to him, the upward review of the passport fee is very necessary.

“The last one year I have engaged Sammy about four, or five times on this very matter. I have done extensive engagement before this thing came out. The current leadership of the NDC, I have had engagement with them, that 'look, this is where we are' and they have all said this is not sustainable.

“When it got to the discussion on the increment of the fees, the whole subsidiary legislation committee, I think it was 10 NPP and NDC, the whole committee unanimously approved it,” he said.

Commenting on Mr. Ablakwa’s concern that the new passport fees will put a financial burden on Ghanaians and his intention to make a formal request for the Minister to appear before the committee, Mr. Ampratwum-Sarpong said, "If he wants us to come to the committee, we would respect the committee."

"We will appear before the committee, we will repeat or rehash the reasons behind the request and the approval given by Parliament on the passport fees. But as to this little threat or whatever, it’s not going to happen, take it from me. These figures, with the support of the majority of Ghanaians, have come to stay, there is nothing he can do about it.

“He can make his noise out there and nobody challenges him. If he wants to bring it to the committee of Parliament, we will meet him on the floor, we will discuss it, we will debate it and at the end of the day I can bet my last cedi, he will fall flat on his face,” he added.