Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Senior Presidential Advisor, has raised concerns over the significant backlog of unclaimed passports across various centers in the country.
During an Update on Results Achieved Under the Public Sector Reform Project, Osafo-Maafo disclosed that a staggering 86,000 passports have yet to be collected.
He described this situation as troubling, emphasizing that despite the efforts to produce these passports, many applicants fail to retrieve them.
“The issue lies in the fact that after going through the process to obtain their passports, many individuals simply do not return to collect them,” Osafo-Maafo explained. “For instance, Takoradi has 8,000 uncollected passports, Cape Coast 8,696, and Accra 19,500.”
He further highlighted the financial impact on the government, noting, “Given our subsidy where passports are produced for around $4.00 each instead of $100, this accumulation represents a substantial amount of government funds tied up.”
Osafo-Maafo concluded by underscoring the inefficiency and financial burden posed by the uncollected passports, calling for measures to address this issue effectively.
