Ghanaian passports
The possession of the Ghanaian passport by persons unqualified to do so has never been tackled adequately. Many loopholes are still being exploited by bad elements seeking monetary gratification, for the acquisition of the travel document, which by all standards is a security document owned by the government of Ghana which has the authority to give or withdraw it from anybody it deems unworthy of possessing it.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of unqualified persons who possess the travel document. It is regrettable that such persons when they commit criminal offences outside Ghanaian frontiers are regarded or described as Ghanaians.
The guarding of the regulations pertaining to the acquisition of the travel document should be intensified.
We have taken note of the various interventions by the relevant authorities to ensure that the Ghanaian passport does not fall into the wrong hands but these nonetheless have not addressed the challenge efficiently.
A Nigerian millionaire kidnapper Chikwuduben Onwuamadike after his recent arrest by law enforcement agents reportedly owned a Ghanaian passport.
The discovery is beyond surprise and therefore demanding a review of our passport acquisition regulations. Better background checking of applicants should be undertaken to ensure that bad elements are denied our travel documents.
Since Ghana and Nigeria share intelligence information somewhat we are suggesting that the matter be probed with the latter offering leads into how the criminal acquired the travel document. Such pieces of knowledge would enable us to plug some of the gaping loopholes in the acquisition of passports.
We must be curious about whether his wife who lives in Ghana and her kids do not have Ghanaian passports too.
We believe that our law enforcement agents would take serious interest in the criminal’s family in Ghana as this could lead to important security tidbits. The Ghana Immigration Service should particularly be interested in the number of times the criminal visited Ghana and on which passport he did so. If the trips were on Ghanaian passport that should trigger further enquiries.
A West African National Security Conference ended yesterday at the Kempiski Hotel, Accra. The Inspector General of Police of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria Mr. Kpotam Ibraim Idris asked countries in the sub-region to take up the matter of intelligence serious. The importance of cooperation among countries in the sub-region cannot be overemphasized considering the ease with which criminals in the sub-region can easily travel about and even carry out criminal activities outside their countries frontiers.
A few days ago, we editorialized on the issue of gun-running in the country and how these objects of fatalities come into the country from our neighbours. An effective passport control system would go a long way in controlling weapon smuggling into the country.
If criminals like this notorious Nigerian millionaire can acquire our travel document with ease then we are not safe. Little wonder he was able to bring in so much ill-gotten money into the country to cater for his family resident here.