The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has described recent reports of the Ghana Card being used as an electronic passport globally as “incorrect.”
“ICAO is aware of recent and incorrect media reports claiming that ICAO has agreed that the Ghanaian ID card is equivalent to an ePassport. However, it is not ICAO’s role to certify the use of a State’s Identity Card for international travel in place of a passport,” the organisation tweeted on Friday, 12 February 2022.
According to the organisation, it is not its duty to endorse the use of Ghana’s Identity card as a travel document, as such decisions are a prerogative of each individual state.
“It is the sovereign right of each individual state to decide upon its entry and exit requirements and the documents that need to be presented by those travelling to and/or from its territory”.
Ghana officially became the 79th member of the ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD) community in October 2019.
The reaction by the ICAO, follows Wednesday’s Key Ceremony in Montreal with reports that the Ghanacard becomes internationally acceptable for travel, and border control authorities can confirm in less than 10 seconds that the Ghanacard/e-passport was issued by the right authority, has not been altered, and is not a copied or cloned document.
