Dr Bawumia speaks at the conference
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has affirmed Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia’s position on the status and use of the GhanaCard.
She has therefore dispelled claims by some media houses and members of the opposition NDC that “she had contradicted the Vice-President on the use of the Ghanacard as a travel document for returning Ghanaians”.
At the launch of the ePharmacy platform on Monday, the Vice-President reiterated the multiple benefits of the GhanaCard, including its acceptance as a travel document for Ghanaians returning home. He added that diasporan Ghanaians can use it to return home without requiring a visa, as they would have been required when travelling back to Ghana on their foreign passports.
Setting records straight
“The Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, did not contradict the Vice President, His Excellency Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in her address to journalists during the press conference at the Ministry last Tuesday, July 19, 2022 as alleged by the news article, but rather corroborated his position,” a statement from the Ministry emphasized yesterday.
The statement added: “The address of the Foreign Minister should be placed in the proper perspective, as it was not focused on the use of the GhanaCard, but on e-visas which were being rolled out for non-Ghanaian nationals who had apply for visas in Ghana’s Missions abroad to come to Ghana”.
“The Minister, in her subsequent engagement with the media, confirmed what the Vice President said; that Ghanaians living abroad can enter Ghana with Ghana Cards at all points of entry of Ghana,” it said.
ICAO greenlight
The Vice-President revealed in November 2021, during a lecture at Ashesi University, that processes had been completed for the GhanaCard to be recognised as an international travel document by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the global body that certifies means of international travel identification.
ICA0, in February 2022, officially announced the GhanaCard as meeting the requirements for an international travel document, which means holders of the card, once Ghana enters into bilateral agreements with individual nations, will be able to use the Ghanacard as a travel document to those countries with electronic visas.
Until that, the GhanaCard can now be used as a travel document by all holders returning to Ghana from airports around the world, and the Ghana Immigration Service. Currently, it has a booth at the Kotoka International Airport, which processes Ghanaian holders of the Ghanacard returning home.
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