A Ranking Member of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has criticised what he describes as an attempt by the John Mahama administration to take undue credit for the new chip-embedded passport programme.

The former Lands Minister, who was a leading member of the Akufo-Addo administration, insists the biometric passport innovation — now being hailed as a modern breakthrough — was fully developed, funded, and operationalised by the previous government before it handed over power in January 2025.

“We built it,” the Damongo MP stated.

“Everything — from conception, procurement, financing, to execution — was done under former President Akufo-Addo. I do not understand why President Mahama wants to take credit for a project he had no hand in implementing.”

His comments come after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched what it called the “mass rollout” of Ghana’s chip-embedded passports on April 28, 2025 — a move that has drawn praise but also sparked controversy over who deserves the credit.

According to Mr Jinapor, the project had already been officially launched by then-President Akufo-Addo on December 2, 2024, with 50,000 passports ready in stock and another 200,000 ordered and scheduled for delivery — all before the new government took over.

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“The records are unimpeachable. This project was not only planned and funded under our watch, but it was also fully executed. What is happening now is merely the distribution of a system we handed over — completed and ready,” he said.

The Damongo MP dismissed the current rollout as a “re-launch” of an already finished project, suggesting that the ceremony and public fanfare were part of a political strategy to rewrite history and mislead Ghanaians.

He also pointed to the painstaking efforts by the Akufo-Addo government to adopt the ICAO’s global travel identification standards and the decision to partner with private players under a PPP model that avoided straining the public purse.

The project, he emphasised, was executed through a well-structured partnership involving 25th Century Technology Limited, Buck Press Limited, and a specially created joint venture — Biometric Travel Solutions Limited.

Samuel Jinapor and the Minority on the Foreign Affairs Committee warned that rebranding and politicising fully executed projects not only wastes public resources but also undermines institutional credibility and transparency.

“What matters now is not who cuts the ribbon again, but how effectively the system is rolled out to benefit Ghanaians. That’s what the new administration should focus on — not playing PR games with completed legacies,” Mr Jinapor added.

He concluded by reminding government officials that, “History cannot be rewritten with press conferences. The facts are documented. The passports you are issuing today were ordered and launched yesterday — by us.”