Chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, has said there was no need for government to make consultation in increasing the passport application fees that has stirred controversy in the country.
According to Mr. Appiah-Kubi, the burden on the state subsidising the cost of one passport application was becoming too much for the taxpayer considering the current economic conditions and how that was affecting the State’s coffers.
The lawmaker, in a telephone interview on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, April 06, 2024, indicated that there was no logic in those making argument for reduction of the fees after giving the explanation that the cost for printing one passport booklet was GHC400.
He has been asking who should bear the GHC300 balance if applicants were made to continuously pay GHC100 for a service that costs the provider GHC400.
“You yourself, what we have discussed, the information I have given you, given the opportunity, would you want a state of [an applicant] paying GHC100 whilst you go and pay all the other monies? What I have given you by way of response, does it not make sense to you? Who do you want to pay for the GHC300,” he quizzed.
Mr. Appiah-Kubi who is the Member of Parliament for Asante Akyem North retorted that “when you want to go and buy milk, do you engage the public?”, when host, Alfred Ocansey asked “was there any engagement on this matter, public conversation on this matter?”
The MP who is also a private legal practitioner indicated that “what I took into consideration [in increasing the application fees] is the cost of the booklet.”
He explained that the cost of a passport booklet as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has been made public and can be verified to ascertain the veracity of the claims or otherwise, adding that he will “rest my case” if he was told who is supposed to bear the cost difference.
“We are saying that the cost of the passport booklet… and this is verifiable information, we’ve declared the places where we buy our booklets, where Nigeria buy their booklets so if you’re contesting that, just find out what we are saying if it is not GHC400. But so far I haven’t heard any debate saying it is 300. When they say it is 300 and then we will go and buy it. Who should pay for the difference and tell me who we should surcharge for the difference and then I will rest my case,” he expressed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration made an upward adjustment of 400% in the cost of applying for passports, saying the government can no longer subsidise 300% of the cost of one document.
Effective Monday, April 01, 2024, a statement from the Ministry indicated that the standard service application which was GHC100 was now going to be GHC500 for a 32-page booklet and GHC644 for the 48-page booklet.
Those seeking expedited service would be paying GHC700 for the standard service for the 32-page document.
