Samuel Abu Jinapor, a Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has said that former president Nana Akufo-Addo should be credited with the mass rollout of chip-embedded passports because he planned and executed it before leaving office.
In a press release dated May 6, 2025, Mr. Jinapor traced the origins of the biometric passport programme to the 2013 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) TRIP Strategy, which encouraged member states to adopt secure electronic travel documents. While initial discussions began earlier, he emphasized that it was the Akufo-Addo government that actively propelled the initiative in 2017 as part of its broader digitalisation agenda.
Mr. Jinapor detailed the competitive procurement process that led to the selection of 25th Century Technology Limited and Buck Press Limited. The two firms formed Biometric Travel Solutions Limited, the special-purpose vehicle responsible for implementing the project through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, a model he noted significantly reduced the financial burden on the state.
He further highlighted that by December 2, 2024, the chip-embedded passports were officially launched by then President Akufo-Addo, with the first batch issued to high-ranking officials. At the time, 50,000 passport booklets were already available, with an additional 200,000 ordered to ensure a smooth nationwide rollout.
Mr. Jinapor criticised what he described as the current administration’s “purported re-launch” of the initiative, calling it unnecessary, misleading, and a misuse of public resources.
He emphasized the Minority Caucus’s commitment to upholding the truth and protecting the integrity of public records.
