Media personality, Nana Yaa Brefo, has questioned why some individuals resort to paying huge sums of money to other people to expedite passport application process instead of using the normal procedure.
She lamented the rate at which individuals are reluctant to rely on normal processes in doing things but use dubious means, including engaging people who are not officials of the passport office, for quicker responses.
Yaa Brefo stated that even though no one will reject an opportunity when it comes, she finds it difficult to understand why people pay huge amounts of money to expedite certain processes.
“If you are applying for a passport and you pay GH¢150/200 to get it in three days, I don’t understand why you would pay GH¢1,500/2,000 to a goro boy to fast-track it for you,” she said while speaking in a TikTok live session monitored by GhanaWeb.
About the upward adjustment in passport application fee
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration issued a statement informing the public about upward adjustment in fees for all their services.
The adjustment took effect on Monday, April 1, 2024.
The statement said the change is in accordance with the Fees and Charges Regulations 2003, (L.I 2481).
According to the online passport application portal, when applying for a passport, the fees for the standard service which is a 32-page booklet have increased from GH¢100 to GH¢500 and ¢644 for the 48-page booklet.
For expedited service, GH¢700 is set to be paid for a 32-page booklet while GH¢800 is paid for a 48-page booklet.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, in December 2023, proposed to Parliament's Committee on Subsidiary Legislation the necessity to adjust fees to alleviate losses in passport booklet printing.
Botchwey explained that subsidizing passports had become unsustainable for the state due to prevailing economic conditions.
About 'goro boys'
In the Ghanaian setting, a "goro boy" typically refers to an individual involved in illegal or fraudulent activities, often related to immigration or documentation services. These individuals may assist people in acquiring documents, passports, or permits through illicit means. The term "goro boy" is often used pejoratively to describe such individuals.
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