Tighten Diplomatic Passport Issuance Process - Antwi-Danso tells government

Accra, Ghana - 17 Jan, 2025 - A leading international relations expert, Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso has called for a stricter regime in issuing diplomatic and service passports in Ghana.

This comes after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration recalled diplomatic and service passports issued under the previous administration, following a directive from President John Dramani Mahama.

In an interview with Citi News, Dr. Antwi-Danso stressed that the current process is vulnerable to misuse and undermines the credibility of Ghana's official travel documents. He argued that diplomatic passports should only be issued to individuals who serve the state's purpose, rather than being distributed based on personal connections or "homeboyism".

The expert warned that the misuse of diplomatic passports can damage Ghana's reputation and create problems with host countries.

To prevent this, Dr. Antwi-Danso advocated for tougher criteria in acquiring diplomatic passports, ensuring that only those who genuinely require them are issued with these special travel documents.

“The issuance process should be tightened. In fact, everywhere I have met persons with diplomatic passports or special passports, they are working for the state. Their work is such that it serves the state purpose. But here, it is linkages and whom you know and ‘homeboyism’ kind of attitude towards all these.

“We should be very careful because when you are holding a diplomatic passport and you do anything untoward, it brings about a big problem between the host country where you are and Ghana. That is why we need to tighten the criteria. We need to make it so tough in acquiring it.”

Source: Lead News Online