Foreign Minister Sacks Employees At The Passport Office. Full Deets..

Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has expressed worry over the continuous extortion and corruption at the country’s Passport Office.

Considering this, Ayorkor Botchwey has sacked some staff who were backed to the passport office of their duties.

The Minister expressed that effective Monday, August 21, 2023, these workers shouldn’t think of reporting to work since they have been fired.

Visiting the workplace unannounced, Madam Ayorkor Botchwey forewarned workers who had worked at the Passport Office for over a year to remain off duties as a component of measures to bring sanity to the institution.

“Everybody who has been here for more than one year, from Monday on, please do not come back because you have been changed. We want to restore some sanity. Every time politicians are corrupt, meanwhile, it is some public civil servants who will do things that shouldn’t be done, and then they will be put on politicians,” she directed.

This was after a visit to the Passport office on Monday August 14, where she expressed shock at the unjustifiable techniques that workers there subject applicants to.

She said, through the cooperative exertion of VP Dr Mahamudu Bawumia the ministry has had the option to digitize the Passport acquisition process.

Nonetheless, some individuals are intentionally controlling the system for their benefit.

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The minister indicated that, investigations have started into the crimes with certain names already coming up.

The investigations, she noted, has shown the existence of a network that was working with Passport Office employees, adding that she was shocked at the widespread notion that only politicians and her ministry were responsible for corruption.

“It is disheartening that while blame is often laid at the feet of politicians, it is, in fact, some public servants who engage in these wrongful acts, which are then mistakenly attributed to politicians,” she complained.

She added investigations into the “goro boys,” who prey on applicants with the help of office staff, are still ongoing and moving forward.

The minister said she is convinced there is collaboration with specific staff at the Passport Office on the grounds that these external players can’t work alone.

She has, therefore, issued a warning that those found guilty will face legal action as a deterrent to others.