Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country—Karl Kraus.
According to DailyGuide;
The acquisition of passports in Ghana has been characterized by unpalatable circumstances for some time now. Anytime the issue crops up, authorities quickly address it temporarily to avoid publicity.
Passport forms are now acquired from some banks such as Ecobank, ADB and others at a fee of GH¢50 for normal processing and GH¢100 for express processing.
After paying the monies at the banks, applicants are asked to forward their completed forms to the Passports Office in Accra with the assurance that the processing would be done smoothly.
But at the Passports Office, applicants find themselves in a totally different world.
‘Connection agents’ otherwise referred to as ‘goro’ or errand guys have invaded the stores opposite the Passports Office.
People, who troop to the place to have their passport forms filled for fear of committing mistakes, are made to pay GH¢10.00 by the ‘goro’ boys, who also endorse the forms as witnesses.
They also inquire from applicants whether they have been referred to the place by certain influential people.
An undercover entry by the paper into the Passports Office revealed pockets of applicants and connection agents at the premises.
An official told this reporter that one of the machines, which used to process the passports, had developed a fault and was being repaired.
There were people loitering on the ground and first floors of the office building.
One of the applicants told this reporter that “Just recently, applicants could acquire their passports in a matter of three days after submitting them but now it takes close to three months to get it. Unless you know somebody here, forget it.”
At 11.06 am, an official at the Client Services Unit told this reporter that “we are not receiving passports today. If you want to tender any, you have to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs near Tema Station in Accra.”
But the reporter later learnt from a top official that the submission of applications was supposed to stop at 12.00 pm since one of the machines was faulty.
Applicants, as a result of the broken down equipment, have to mobilize between GH¢150 and GH¢200 to be given to the connection men, who then pressurize their cohorts working at the office to process their passports.
“I think officials at the Passport Office cannot put a stop to this mess. They only act as if they are innocent only to allow the situation to fester again after a short period. The minister of Interior must stop these shameful and corrupt activities. The systems are not working.”
corruption at the passport office is just too much…..i had to sleep at the passport office before getting my passport done . this is because i was not ready to pay for any extra money apart from the money expected… i went there 12am and came back home at 3pm……Alot of people were crying because they were suppose to travel within that week and yet the passport wasnt ready….we had to quarrel with the security men and those in charge because they were trying to replaces us with different people…….Getting a passport or renewing your passport in ghana is like getting a visa to heaven….this is insane……
why Will you deal with a connection man when you know very well that person ain’t an official staff. these connection people take large sums of money to process the passport, but the receipt Will show the difference between a gh50 and gh100 passport form and this Will determine the urgency of the form. i personally bought the gh50, cos it wasn’t urgent, walked into the office and spoke to an official showed him my form, he in turn directed me to the respective officials necessary for endorsement, took my picture and waited till the date given on the form, that was 3 weeks. when i got there my passport was ready. i didn’t need to pay any money to any connection man. Cheap things cost. you May think they Will speedy up your application but no, they make things worse. just ask for the write official to help you and you’ll be fine
I HOPE ANAS WILL EXPOSE THOSE CORRUPT OFFICIALS SOON
When will Ghana change? I can understand corruption against foreigners but please, to your own people….abaa!!!
l realy love mother Ghana,but becouse of this kind of problems which our leader are part of it and are not ready to do anything about then,l will reanuce my ghana Passport…so that l will have my pease of mind .
Passport officials are dangerous in that building I have applied for a passport and I paid 100 cedis for it,they gave me a week for the collections when i went there they told me to check in three months time. But they said 100 cedis is for only three working days what is happening? up to now i am still waiting for it. I am taking this issue to president direct for complains. When i went there i made myself as i am nobody not knowing i am a full creative Journalist and i did not state that in my Occupation I just want to get a concrete informations and I will come out with a video tape and photographs about their angry corruptions. They have being lying to people that their machine has been broken down thats not truth facts. If you give 300 cedis your passport will be ready one day. I been there several times myself and I recorded secrete tapes. There are security men at the gate who are more than morons. Those guards love monies. And those who are processing the passports are not humans but snakes biting humans and sucking their blood. I will reveal the secrete to the president and the whole nation. I have all their names listed in my files each person and how they works there. I am a secrete person trust me.