Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Prof. Ken Attafuah has said that NIA’s next initiative is to merge passports of Ghanaians with their Ghana Card, making it a digital passport.
Speaking on Joy FM, Thursday, Prof. Attafuah said “there would be a time when it would be easy to apply for a passport simply by providing your Ghana Card number.”
He said the technical team at the NIA are working vigilantly to give Ghanaians convenience for their travels, adding that when the integration is done, airlines would have access to the NIA data and be able to reference it to verify people’s passports easily.
“At the moment, both the Ghana Card and the passport are valid for travelling within Africa but the next line of action is to merge the two into one document” he said.
Another plan he noted was the international recognition of the Ghana Card after it has been merged with the ECOWAS passport.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration will also be providing us (NIA) with the support to approach the International Standardization Organization in Montreal, Canada for them to publish the certificates that are on the Ghana Card. So that it would be recognized worldwide.
“Your paper passport has recognition and acceptance worldwide because a public infrastructure, a certificate that is on it has been published by the Republic of Ghana, through this agency worldwide, and so it has acceptance,” he said.
