Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, a Ranking Member on Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, has condemned government’s recent re-launch of the chip-embedded passport project.

The former Lands Minister described it as a wasteful and politically motivated spectacle designed to claim credit for a legacy project of the previous administration.

In a statement on behalf of the Minority Caucus on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, the Damongo MP expressed deep concern over what he termed a deliberate attempt by the current government to “distort the narrative” and mislead Ghanaians about the true origins of the high-tech passport programme.

“This re-launch is entirely unnecessary and serves no functional purpose,” Samuel Jinapor said.

“It is a needless drain on public funds—an orchestrated effort to hijack a project that was not only conceptualised but fully executed by the Akufo-Addo Government before it left office in January 2025.”

The Damongo MP stated that the digital passport project was already officially launched on December 2, 2024, with then-President Akufo-Addo and other top officials receiving their chip-embedded passports.

At the time, 50,000 passport booklets had already been stocked, and another 200,000 were on order.

All procurement, contracts, and logistical planning were completed under the previous administration, he stressed.

“This was not a vague idea left behind. It was a fully baked project—planned, financed, delivered, and launched. To repackage it as a new initiative is disingenuous and insults the intelligence of the Ghanaian public,” Samuel Jinapor said.

He explained that the initiative to upgrade Ghana’s biometric passport system to a chip-embedded, polycarbonate passport was born out of the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s 2013 strategy to modernise global travel identification systems.

Ghana’s response to that strategy, the former Minister said, only gained traction after the Akufo-Addo administration assumed office in 2017 and adopted it as a key part of its digitalisation drive.

The government, through the Central Tender Committee, engaged 25th Century Technology Limited and Buck Press under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, leading to the formation of Biometric Travel Solutions Limited, which implemented the project.

The PPP approach ensured that the financial burden did not fall on taxpayers.

Samuel Jinapor questioned the logic and motive behind the re-launch held on April 28, 2025, accusing the Foreign Affairs Ministry of stage-managing a PR stunt rather than delivering new value to citizens.

“At a time when we should be focused on efficiently rolling out the passport system and ensuring accessibility for all eligible Ghanaians, the government chose instead to hold a ceremonial re-launch—an empty ritual that adds no substantive progress but only drains public funds,” he said.

He called on the government to “cease the theatrics” and instead dedicate its resources to resolving the real logistical and distribution challenges facing the system.

According to him, the priority now should be operational—not celebratory.

The Minority Caucus reaffirmed its commitment to defending the public purse and protecting institutional integrity, vowing to expose any further attempts to misappropriate the legacy of completed projects.