Minister for Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has announced that 623 Ghanaians affected by the June 29 floods have qualified for the government’s free passport replacement programme. The initiative, launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seeks to reduce the financial burden on flood victims whose passports were either damaged or lost during the disaster. Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, July 27, Mr Ablakwa said the ministry received 705 applications before the July 17 deadline set for the replacement exercise.
He explained that following verification by the Passport Office, 623 applicants were confirmed to have possessed valid passports at the time of the floods and were therefore eligible for the intervention. However, 82 applications were rejected after it was established that the affected passports had expired before the disaster occurred. “The scheme covers only valid passports and for good reason.
We do not want others who are not really victims of the floods to take advantage of this to abuse our modest humanitarian effort,” Mr Ablakwa said. He added that the initiative, announced on July 3, 2026, was introduced to ease the financial strain on affected citizens and ensure that the loss or damage of passports does not disrupt employment opportunities, education, medical travel or other legitimate international engagements. The Foreign Affairs Minister disclosed that the Passport Office has so far processed and printed 200 replacement passports, with 155 already collected by their owners, while 45 remain available for collection by verified applicants.
He assured that the ministry will continue to process the remaining eligible applications in batches and notify successful applicants once their replacement documents are ready.
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