Self-appointed middle men popularly known as ‘Goro-Boys’ who meddle in the process of passport acquisition are to be blamed for the over 10,000 passports that got abandoned, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.
At a news conference in Accra, the Director of Passports, Emmanuel Enos said the Goro boys, after negotiating with prospective applicants, and going through the passport acquisition process, refuse to collect the passports when the monies they charged have not been paid them in full.
“It is strange that people will go through the hustle to apply for the passports but do not come for them. Yet there is a misconception that it takes many months to acquire passports.
We are putting in place measures to ensure we reach the owners of these passports. Very soon we will provide names of the owners to the public,” he stressed. A report from the Ministry of Foreign affairs indicates there are about 10,000 passports abandoned in their respective offices in Accra.
The passport headquarters according to the Ministry, alone recorded 4,000 abandoned passports as 2013 till date.
New Measures During a media tour to the passport office there were no sign of ‘Goro Boys’ at the premises.
A barricade had also been placed 10 meters away from the entrance to keep hawkers away.
The Ministry has provided sign posts outside the entrance which warns applications of engaging the services of goro boys.
<<Print>>