The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Hackman Owusu Agyeman has advised applicants on the illegal services of self-styled passport agents.

He said applicants should rather deal with the passport office directly. According to Hon Hackman Owusu Agyeman, under normal circumstances, it should take about one month for an applicant’s passport to be processed. The Minister made these statements in Parliament on Thursday.

In another development, the parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs has suggested to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to consider “fast tracking” the passport procedure by ensuring that those who urgently need passports are given special service at relatively higher processing fee.

This is contained in the committee’s report on the 2003 annual estimates of the ministry of foreign affairs which was presented to the house.

In an interview with Peace fm, the ND MP for Asuogyaman, Hon Dwamena Bekoe also expressed worry about delay in the issuance of passports in the country.