Former Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and MP for Mampong, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, has dismissed proposed reforms for the Passport Office by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
He described the newly sworn-in Minister’s proposals as redundant and already in progress.
Ampratwum-Sarpong, in a statement, emphasized that the Foreign Affairs Ministry had been implementing modernization and backlog-clearing measures for the past two years under a World Bank-funded project.
According to him, the initiative, which includes digitization, call centres, courier services, and postal deliveries, has already tackled nearly 40,000 uncollected passports.
“The Minister is not coming to do anything new. No reinventing of the wheel. The wheel is already invented,” Ampratwum-Sarpong stated.
He stressed the existing Consular Fund, which is designed to assist Ghanaians abroad with welfare and emergency needs and noted that the fund’s operational framework is in place, with the only outstanding issue being the release of $2 million from the Ministry of Finance to activate it.
“The Consular Fund is already set up and ready to go. Again, no reinventing of the wheel,” he reiterated.
Ampratwum-Sarpong urged Okudzeto Ablakwa, the current Minister for Foreign Affairs, to ensure that the Finance Ministry disburses the funds, stating that if the NPP had won the 2024 elections, the party had pledged to allocate the money in the next budget.
“I am praying that the Minister, Ablakwa, is able to convince his colleague, the Finance Minister, to release the funds,” he added.
With these remarks, the former Deputy Minister has thrown doubt on the significance of Ablakwa’s proposed reforms, suggesting they are merely repackaged initiatives that were already in motion under the previous administration.