MINORITY ACCUSES GOV’T OF SPENDING $1.2 MILLION TO ‘RELAUNCH AND REBRAND’ CHIP-EMBEDDED PASSPORT

By spending $1.2 million on what they called a “simple relaunch of the chip-embedded passport initiative,” the government has been accused by the minority in parliament of inflicting financial loss to the state.

The Minority Caucus claims that the latest announcement was superfluous because the project had previously been planned, contracted, and funded during the previous Akufo-Addo administration.

They stated at a news conference in Accra that the effort was fully launched on December 2, 2024, after the former administration obtained a supplier credit and finished all required testing. This involved acquiring 50,000 passport booklets and placing a continuous order for an extra 200,000.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, July 9, at Parliament House in Accra, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Committee, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, criticized the move to relaunch the chip embedded passport and said it was “wasteful”.

“The chip-embedded passport programme was fully developed and funded under the previous Akufo-Addo-led administration, following Cabinet approval in August 2024,” he said.

“When the new minister staged a costly relaunch on April 28, 2025—an event that alone cost the taxpayer $1.2 million—there was no corresponding increase in printing capacity or paper supply. Within just eight weeks, the Passport Office had a backlog of 32,467 unprinted applications. Sixty-eight percent of applicants had waited over eight weeks, despite paying for a 15-day express service.”

He added, “The relaunch solved nothing. It was merely a rebranded version of work already completed and diverted scarce resources away from much-needed service delivery.”