Hike in Passport Application Fees Aims to Broaden Accessibility – Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Appiah Kubi

Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Appiah Kubi, defends hike in passport application fees, citing aim to broaden accessibility. Learn more about the rationale behind the decision.

Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Kwame Andy Appiah-Kubi, stated that the rise in passport application fees aims to enhance accessibility to passports.

He elaborated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration requires sufficient resources to increase passport production. This entails increasing fees to generate revenue for additional passport centers and necessary equipment.

During an interview on 3FM with Beatrice Adu, Mr. Appiah-Kubi explained that the decision to approve the fee increment was based on the ministry’s presentation to the parliamentary committee, highlighting the need to align fees with international standards and improve accessibility nationwide.

However, the timing of the increment has been criticized by some, including Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who described it as insensitive considering the current economic challenges faced by Ghanaians.

“So this was approved by the committee and subsequently adopted by the Parliament of Ghana.

Asked again whether the only reason the committee gave approval was the explanation given by the Foreign Affairs Committee that the country was not paying enough for passports as per international standards, he answered

” Yes, that is one of the reasons and the second reason is that we needed to make passports accessible to the whole of the citizenry and if we were going to do that then we needed to expand access and create more centers and procure equipment for them for the delivery of passports, you can also recall people waiting passports to be delivered would have to wait on end and therefore all of these, put together, required that we resource the ministry to be able to perform its duties diligently for which reason the consideration of the increase in the fees.”

Source:Citinews

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