That the Ghana Embassy in Rome has taken a giant stride to reach Ghanaians in Italy at their door steps with Consular Services must be welcome news.
The exercise, introduced by the new Ghana Ambassador to Italy, Her Excellency (Mrs.) Anita Evelyn Stokes-Hayford, will see officials of the Consular Section of the Embassy from time to time at weekends, meeting Ghanaians in various cities in Italy to receive Application Forms for passports and other related documents. Their requests will be sent to the Embassy, processed within a week and sent back to them - that sounds refreshing.
I am hoping (just hoping) this new exercise will not be a 9-day wonder with the excuse: ‘we don’t have the funds to continue’ – the normal defence for which many of such initiatives has died without trace, around the same time it was given birth. We have seen Ambassadors in the past, in the same seat, who upon assuming office presented nice ‘packages’ and ‘sweet talks’ about helping Ghanaians here but most of their plans and promises didn’t see day light throughout their tenure of office.
The Ghanaian in Italy has faced very difficult situations on the cost of documents at the Embassy. Most of their questions on the increased cost of the Ghana passport in Italy has remained unanswered for the past 4 years. There are not many points against the argument that the cost of the Ghana passport here (at €200) is expensive and as you read this no one has come out to explain why on the same document, Ghanaians in Italy are paying 85% more than their compatriots elsewhere in Europe and the US. I wish to know what factors are considered in arriving at fees on documents for Ghanaians abroad.
The saga on the passport issue which raised a huge protest 4 years ago has died down as Ghanaians here continue to pay the high cost. If the Government of Ghana thinks slamming an increase on passport fee here will eliminate illegal passport practices, they got it wrong. Passport ‘contractors’ will go at any length to get what they want and will eventually pass the total cost on at their final destination. In any case, most of the cases on passport irregularities that come up are passports issued in Accra, not here, so they (authourities in Accra) should do their home work well and remove the additional cost to the relief of Ghanaians in Italy. The good news is, the new passports being issued leaves little or no room for tampering and so why not consider reverting to the old fee compared to Ghana Embassies elsewhere in Europe and US.
The move by the Ambassador to send her men out to reach Ghanaians where they reside in Italy will cut some of their costs at a time that financial crisis seems to be biting everywhere. It’s a good decision considering that some Ghanaians have to travel 400 – 800 km. to the Embassy, sometimes to apply for a document which will cost far less than the cost of their travel.
It’s about time the Ghana Government consider the Embassy in Italy as one of the ‘more important’ and in a strategic position compared to some of its highly placed Government offices abroad. Here you are with a population of over 80,000 Ghanaians, most of them legally resident in the country. On a very busy day at the Consular Section officials may receive between 60 to 80 applicants for documents. It was estimated that between June 2005 and September 2006, over 20,000 Ghanaians passports expired and assuming all those passports were renewed that was a ‘whooping’ €4 million income to the Ghana Government in renewal fees. How many of the Ghana Embassies abroad generates such incomes within that space of time?
It’s a fact that the Ghana Embassy in Italy is raking in a lot of money on the back of Ghanaians here and the source of that income (they the Ghanaians) must benefit from it. There is the belief among them that the Embassy is not there for them when it matters and they have some cases to prove their argument. But my observation is that, officials who should consider also other Consular matters are so much damped in their office work dealing with application for passports and other related documents they don’t have the time look elsewhere - not even to look through the office windows for fresh air.
If the Embassy is to serve Ghanaians here better the Government must augment its staff to deal with other separate issues emanating from their communities.
The initiative by the Ambassador is commendable. That should begin to rewrite the story on the minds of Ghanaians in Italy about the Embassy on their welfare – considering the cost of passport and travel to the office. It’s still early days to start giving her credit points but posterity will judge her whether this exercise of reaching Ghanaians at their door steps with Consular Services continues or not, after her time in office.
- Reggie Tagoe
