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The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has announced the confiscation of 379 Ghana Cards from foreigners who attempted to use them to acquire Ghanaian passports.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, the Minister disclosed that interviews conducted with the individuals confirmed they were not Ghanaians. He said the arrests formed part of the Ministry’s intensified efforts to curb passport-related fraud.
“Foreigners are trying to lay their hands on our passports. We need to be ahead of the threat,” Ablakwa stressed. “We are rolling out a no-nonsense approach—any foreigner attempting to obtain a Ghanaian passport will be apprehended and prosecuted.”
According to the Minister, the increase in such fraudulent attempts is linked to the growing value of the Ghanaian passport, which currently allows visa-free travel to 42 countries.
To strengthen passport security, Mr. Ablakwa announced new restrictions, including a limit on the number of passport applications tied to a single mobile number. “No mobile phone number will be permitted to register more than five passport applications. We detected multiple attempts by the same numbers, and these have now been blocked in our system,” he revealed.
He also mentioned that the Ministry has implemented an enhanced security framework that considers community demographics and family structures to help identify suspicious applications.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding the integrity of the Ghanaian passport and cautioned that anyone found violating the new measures would face prosecution.
