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On May 7, 2025, the Member of Parliament for Bosome Freho, Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, in an interview with Accra-based United Television (UTV), claimed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was the first to introduce Ghana’s chip-embedded passport and not the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
Following his comment on UTV, the Minority Caucus on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament in a statement said the chip-embedded passport was a “result of years of determined leadership, strategic planning, execution and sustained institutional effort by the Akufo-Addo Government.”
Both reactions followed the implementation of a mass roll-out of the Chip-Embedded Passport to citizens by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on April 28, 2025.
Since these comments emerged, social media has been inundated with commentaries on Ghana’s newly chip-embedded passport for international travel. While many commentators debate that it is an achievement of the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration, others say it is a triumph of the John Mahama administration.
Fact-Check Ghana has verified the claims and presents the facts below.
Claim: “The NPP was the first to introduce Ghana’s chip-embedded passport, not the NDC”.
Verdict: Misleading
Explanation: To fact-check the claims, Fact-Check Ghana analysed public documents through media combing on the chip-embedded passport for international travel.
The team found that Ghana’s initial plans for Chip-Embedded passports began under the NDC in 2016.
In 2016, Ghana’s then Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hanna Tetteh, announced the government’s plans to transition from issuing biometric passports to more advanced chip-embedded passports. Speaking at a meeting with the Ghanaian community in Tokyo, Japan, she explained that the upgrade aimed to align Ghana’s travel documents with international standards and improve global accessibility for Ghanaians abroad.
The minister stated that the government was undertaking a procurement process to develop the necessary infrastructure across Ghana’s 57 diplomatic missions and consulates, as well as at the passport office in Accra and all ten administrative regional passport application centres. The new chip-embedded passport system, according to her, would store more secure biometric data and enhance passport issuance both locally and globally.
She emphasised that existing biometric passport holders would need to upgrade to the chip version once available. This announcement marked the first official move towards chip-embedded passports under the NDC administration.
Months after the minister made this public, the NDC lost the 2016 general elections.
The NPP government continued the project when it assumed office in 2017 by integrating it into its comprehensive digitalisation agenda. In its 2020 manifesto, the NPP pledged to introduce chip-embedded passports to enhance the security of Ghanaian travel documents. This was executed through a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) agreement with Biometric Travel Solutions Limited, a private Ghanaian firm. The project’s objective was to align Ghana’s passports with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) standards and enhance national security.
The culmination of these efforts led to the official launch of the chip-embedded passport on December 2, 2024, by President Akufo-Addo. The new passport, according to reports, features a microprocessor that securely stores the holder’s biometric data, photograph, and other unique security features, ensuring robust protection against unauthorised access and misuse.
During the launch of Ghana’s chip-embedded passport in December 2024, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, acknowledged that the project had been initiated eight years earlier under her ministry.
“Pursuant to the provisions of paragraph one of the Passports and Travel Certificates Act 1967, NLCD 155, my ministry started the chip-embedded passport project eight years ago through a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) arrangement,” she stated. “This ministry [Foreign Affairs] partnered with Biometric Travel Solutions Limited, a private Ghanaian firm, to undertake this project, which is aimed at bringing our passports into strict compliance with the international civil aviation organisations’ regulations.”
The Minister described the new chip-embedded passport as a “state-of-the-art” document that would safeguard against identity theft, document tampering, and unauthorised access. She further noted that the migration from the existing biometric passports would be done progressively and expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
However, Fact-Check Ghana found no public record affirming that the full rollout or issuance of the chip-embedded passports took place before the erstwhile Akufo-Addo government handed over power to the John Mahama administration.
On Monday, April 28, 2025, Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led by its Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, officially launched the nationwide rollout of the Chip-Embedded Passport. The initiative is part of a broader suite of reforms aimed at modernising passport acquisition, enhancing document security, and improving service delivery to citizens. At the launch ceremony, some Ghanaians received their new chip-embedded passports, symbolising the end of longstanding frustrations such as prolonged wait times and uncollected passports.
In his address, Mr Ablakwa described the launch as “a reset and the ushering of a new era of modernisation, convenience, and deep respect for Ghanaian citizens.” He emphasised that Ghana’s new chip-embedded polycarbonate passport features state-of-the-art security enhancements—both latent and visible—making forgery nearly impossible.
The key reforms include the complete phase-out of old biometric passports, with all new issuances now featuring chip-embedded technology; a 24/7 operational Passport Head Office to improve accessibility; nationwide courier delivery through Ghana Post and Troskit; an electronic tracking system to monitor application status from submission to delivery; faster processing times of 15 working days for regular applications and 5 working days for expedited ones; and a proposed reduction in application fees from GHS500 to GHS350, pending parliamentary approval. The new passport also complies with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) security standards, which all member states must meet by 2030.
Conclusion
The claim by Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, MP for Bosome Freho, that the NPP was the first to introduce Ghana’s chip-embedded passport is misleading. While the NPP government officially launched the chip-embedded passport in December 2024, verifiable evidence shows that the foundation for the project was laid under the NDC administration in 2016. Then-Foreign Affairs Minister Hanna Tetteh announced the government’s intent to upgrade to chip-embedded passports and outlined steps to establish the required infrastructure across Ghana’s diplomatic missions and regional centres.
The NPP administration advanced the project through a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) arrangement with Biometric Travel Solutions Limited, and positioned it within its broader digitalisation agenda. However, the actual issuance and full nationwide rollout of the chip-embedded passports began in April 2025 under the new NDC administration.
Therefore, both the NDC and NPP played significant but distinct roles—the NDC initiated the project, the NPP launched it, and the NDC executed the full rollout.
