In a recent report, lawyer and writer Chris-Vincent Agyapong has touted the legitimacy of the Ghana Card as a travel document championed by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to him, a friend and travel companion of his had lost his Ghanaian passport and did not have a visa to Ghana in his British passport.
However, the friend did have a Ghana Card. Despite initial concerns that the card would not be accepted as a travel document, the friend was able to successfully check-in at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport using the Ghana Card.
Agyapong, who was present for the incident, stated that Vice President Bawumia, who has been promoting the Ghana Card’s use as a travel document, was not lying about its effectiveness.
This report serves as further evidence of the Ghana Card’s usefulness and underscores the efforts Ghana is making to digitize its systems.
Below is the write up shared by Chris-vincent Agyapong:
Before my flight takes off, let me say—Bawumia’s Ghana Card really works.
My friend, with whom I am travelling with to Ghana was supposed to pick me up at 6am today. When he was not at my end by 6:30am, I called to find out what was happening.
He sounded distressed. He couldn’t find his Ghanaian Passport and he does not have a visa to Ghana in his British Passport too.
He was anxiously searching for his passport and I kept asking, where did you put it, when was the last time you saw it and why didn’t you pack this last night?
And then I asked: do you have a Ghana Card? He said YES!
Then I said: you can use that to travel to Ghana—at least that is what Bawumia claims.
He asked: are you sure? And I replied—let’s put Bawumia’s words to test—if we get there and they don’t accept it at the check-in desk as a Ghanaian travel document, I will write about it.
We got to Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport and showed his Ghana Card as evidence that he is a Ghanaian who does not need a visa to travel to Ghana.
Bingo: he was checked-in, and we are on the flight now.
So, I can confidently say that, our digitalisation man was not lying to us.
—Chris-Vincent Agyapong
By Vincent Kubi