Akufo-Addo Government Fully Executed Ghana’s Chip-Embedded Passport Project – Abu Jinapor

‎Samuel Abu Jinapor, Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, has clarified that the rollout of Ghana’s chip-embedded biometric passport is the product of thorough planning and execution by the Akufo-Addo administration, not the current government.
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‎In a press statement dated May 6, 2025, Jinapor asserted that the programme was finalized before the Akufo-Addo government exited office on January 7, 2025. He described recent attempts to relaunch the initiative as misleading and “unnecessary.”
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‎“All core components—from policy design, contract awards, to logistics—were completed under President Akufo-Addo’s leadership,” he stated.
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‎He traced the project’s roots to the 2013 ICAO TRIP Strategy and emphasized that although discussions began earlier, the Akufo-Addo government took major strides from 2017 as part of its digitalisation efforts.
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‎Jinapor outlined the selection of 25th Century Technology Limited and Buck Press Limited, who formed Biometric Travel Solutions Limited to implement the project through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, helping reduce costs to the state.
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‎He noted that by December 2, 2024, President Akufo-Addo had already launched the chip-embedded passports, with 50,000 copies in stock and 200,000 more on the way.
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‎Calling the current government’s re-launch efforts a distortion of facts, he said, “It is through the hard work and dedication of the Akufo-Addo Government that Ghana is now issuing electronic passports.”
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‎He urged the new administration to focus on distribution rather than seeking credit for an initiative it inherited, adding that the Minority Caucus will continue to protect the integrity of Ghana’s foreign affairs policies.
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