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Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has clarified what Ghana’s National Identity Card (the GhanaCard) can be used for.

According to her, even though the card cannot currently be used as a travel document on its own, it is used as an identity document abroad to help stranded Ghanaians get back home.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, Ayorkor Botchwey added that the GhanaCard is very useful in the event that a Ghanaian loses his or her passport abroad.

“… for a country to accept our national identification (GhanaCard), there must be some bilateral agreements and already we have started some requests for bilateral engagement for some key countries to accept our national identification. What we have done with ICAO, where we are now part of a public directorate means that our details are in that database.

“What does this mean? It means that if for example you travel somewhere and you lose your passport and you want to check-in at an airport, you can use your National Identification Card to check-in. What the airline will do is to put in the database your details and every detail of yours will come up to authenticate you as the bearer of that particular card… so far a few people have come back to Ghana through the GhanaCard,” she said.

Also, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has explained that although the GhanaCard has the features to be an e-passport there is still a long way to go before it is considered as such.

She said that the recognition given to Ghana by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) does not mean that the GhanaCard has become an e-passport, contrary to assertions in the public.

Also, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration explained that although the GhanaCard has the possibility of being used as e-passport there is still a long way to go before it is considered as such.

She said that the recognition given to Ghana by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) does not imply that the GhanaCard has become an e-passport, contrary to assertions in the public.