Govt to establish second Passport Application Centre in Ashanti Region by first quarter of 2027 – Ablakwa

The government will establish a second Passport Application Centre in the Ashanti Region by the first quarter of next year, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has announced.

He made the announcement during a visit to the Kumasi Passport Office, where he acknowledged the heavy pressure on staff at the facility.

Mr. Ablakwa said the Ashanti Region should not have only one passport application centre, and that steps have already been initiated to open an additional one to reduce the burden on the existing office.

“We have decided and I have instructed that we should initiate steps towards opening a second passport application centre in the Ashanti Region so that we can reduce the pressure, the burden here,” he said.

He disclosed that a building for the new centre has already been secured and inspected, and was found to be suitable. What remains is the procurement of equipment.

“I am targeting first quarter of next year. We already have the building and we’ve done the inspection, it is very good. We just have to procure equipment, so we are almost there,” he said.

The new centre, he explained, will serve residents in the Mampong enclave and surrounding communities on the mountains, to ease pressure on the Kumasi office, particularly during peak seasons.

Mr. Ablakwa justified the move on population grounds, noting that the Ashanti Region and Greater Accra Region have nearly the same population, yet Greater Accra has three passport application centres while Ashanti has only one.