The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra: The government has, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, opened a satellite passport application centre at the Hajj village in Accra to ensure would-be hajj pilgrims are able to acquire passports in three working days.

The ministry has also established special Hajj booths at passport offices across the regional capitals to ensure that potential pilgrims have a speedy process to acquire the travel document.

The centre would be manned by all relevant agencies responsible for vetting and scrutinising applicants.

“When you apply for your passport here at the Hajj village, within a maximum of three working days, three days, you will receive your passport.

“So, once you arrive here, you fill your forms, you are captured, they take your biometrics, and you have your facials taken within three days maximum,” said Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the sector minister.

He was speaking at the official opening of the satellite passport application centre at the Accra Hajj village.

He announced that applicants are to pay a fee of GH₵500 for the expedited services, the same as the fee charged for ordinary service when applying for a passport.

“No special charges…and I am deliberately announcing this to those who will try to meet some people on their way to the Hajj Village and tell them that, oh, you will get your passport within 3 days, so pay more,” he said.

He urged religious groups, associations, and organisations interested in having such special services to apply to the ministry for such services to be rendered to them.

“As we speak, we have created a special satellite location in Parliament for our first-term members of Parliament,” he noted.

He warned that the government would not compromise on the quality and security of its passport, hence the need for applicants to abide by all rules and guidelines governing the application process.

“We do not want to hear that there is some stampede, there is some disorderliness, people are not cooperating, people are disrespecting our officials,” he said.

Alhaji Collins Dauda, the chair of the Ghana Hajj Taskforce, expressed gratitude to the government for the commitment to facilitating a smooth Hajj of pilgrims.

He urged the would-be pilgrims to resist any attempt at discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity or place.

The Ghana Hajj task force, an interim body mandated to organise the Hajj pilgrimage in Ghana, has set a March 13 deadline for the payment of Hajj fare.

Each pilgrim is required to pay an amount of GH¢62000.