... AT GHANA HIGH COMMISSION, UK

As a Ghanaian living in the United Kingdom, it is my right to comment on issues affecting Ghana and Ghanaians here. For sometime now I have consistently been raising the ‘red flag’ about some of the difficulties both Ghanaians and foreigners face when they are in need of services provided only by the Ghana High Commission in the UK. Ghana High Commission theoretically provides wide ranging diplomatic service in the UK. The most accessed service by ordinary Ghanaians is the consular services which include acquisition of Ghanaian passports and visas; I guess it is one service that generates income to the High Commission.

In recent times, it has become an open secret that, some staff at the Ghana High commission is deliberately using the ‘shortage of passport forms’ to conduct illegal business. It is not uncommon to hear people complaining about losing money through ‘passport contractors’. In a 21st century do we have to subject our own brothers and sisters to this level of injustice? If you were to be interested in acquiring a British passport, all you need to do is to go to the Post Office and pick the forms free of charge.

I conducted an undercover fact finding mission to the passport section to familiarise myself with what was going on recently, what I discovered is similar to what I have been hearing within the Ghanaian Community. A Ghanaian student who was desperate to renew his passport before the Home Office in the UK will process his application to extend his student visa could not understand why the process of renewing his passport was so cumbersome, he intimated...”I have been here since 10 o’clock just to buy a passport form and I was told there are no forms available, I was told there has been shortages for more than two weeks, whiles I was here, I saw other people who come here and demand to see a staff, they are taken inside and they come out with forms, if there is shortage how do others get it in front to me?

Why do we have to force people to pay for a passport form at the point of acquiring the form? When all we need to do is to provide the forms online which can be downloaded free of charge, after all the High Commission has got a website which allows people to download visa application forms, why not the passport forms? The applicants only need to pay whatever fees are required when they fill the forms and apply for s passports. I don’t see how this process would pose any security or economic threat to Ghana.

The current procedure is embarrassing, time consuming and riddled with fraud, we can do better. Put the forms online and explain to the public that they can get it for free if they download it; they only pay for the forms if they request a copy from the High Commission. If you visit the web page of the High Commission, it says “Payment may be made in Cash (paid in person at the counter), postal orders or banker’s draft. Cheques are generally not accepted. Please do not post cash”. It also says the cost of a passport form is £15, this is too high and cannot be justified in terms of production cost. Times are hard, let us go easy on our people.

I have used my gumption to outline the problems and the solutions, at least from my point of view, it is the responsibility of the government to effect the necessary changes that will make the Consular Section of the Ghana High Commission a 21st century institution. I hope the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ghana will take the necessary steps to stop the mess at the Ghana High Commission in the UK.