Ghana passport staff to receive bonus following corruption report

Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has announced a special bonus for all passport administration staff, scheduled to be distributed next week. The decision follows a Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) report that identified the Passport Office as one of the country’s most transformed and least corrupt public institutions.

According to GSS survey data covering July to December 2025, the Passport Office ranked ninth on a list of ten institutions where citizens most frequently report paying bribes, with an 11.1 percent reporting rate. This figure is significantly lower than other agencies, such as the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Division, which recorded a 54.6 percent rate.

Minister Ablakwa noted that recent reforms have led to the implementation of 24-hour operations, the elimination of application backlogs, and a 30 percent reduction in passport costs. He also highlighted that the office now issues advanced chip-embedded passports and has successfully reduced the reliance on middlemen.