Ghana Allocates $30 Million for Digitizing Immigration Landing Cards, A Service Freely Provided by Airlines

Allocated Amount Generates Concerns Among Citizens

Ghana Landing Card

Ghana has allocated $30 million for digitalizing the country’s immigration landing cards, a service that is freely provided by airlines or at least available for a lesser cost in other countries.

Ghana’s Phasing Out of Landing Cards

In February 2023, Ghana’s Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia, announced plans to eliminate physical immigration landing cards for airline passengers entering Ghana.

Instead, the process would become fully digital, aimed at enhancing efficiency, reducing errors, and aligning Ghana’s immigration system with global standards. The shift was also expected to streamline data collection, improve security, and offer easier storage and retrieval of travel records.

“I held a productive meeting on improving the competitiveness of Kotoka International Airport (KIA) with key stakeholders, including the Minister for Public Enterprises, Minister for Transport and his deputy, the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Ghana Immigration Service, National Security and Ministry of Interior.

“It was decided, inter alia, that airline passengers traveling to Ghana will, from 31 March 2023, no longer be required to fill out landing cards. This is because the same information can be obtained electronically,” Bawumia posted on Facebook in February 2023.

However, delays in rolling out the platform created a gap in Ghana’s immigration processes, raising concerns about national security and the effective documentation of incoming travelers.

Reasons For Digitalization of Landing Cards

The major reason given for the proposed digitalization of the process of filling the landing cards at the time was to streamline the process and reduce processing time for documents at Ghanian airports.

The digitalization was also to reduce the occurrence of errors while filling the cards as well as trying to ensure easy storage and retrieval of such information by Ghanian authorities.

The process was also to reduce falsification of travel data, ensure seamless entry into Ghana for passengers as well as bringing Ghana’s immigration system in line with Global standards.

Ghana’s $30 million payment

Recently, it was revealed that Ghana paid $30 million to an unnamed private company for the digitalization project. This company, reportedly introduced to the Vice president through the Deputy Minister of Transport, specializes in facilitating middleman operations, importing technology solutions from countries like Turkey and Singapore.

The substantial payment has sparked public debate, particularly since many countries have implemented similar systems at significantly lower costs. For instance, nations like the UK, Malaysia, and Singapore have used in-house teams or vendor-supported solutions to digitalize their immigration systems at a fraction of this amount.

Controversy Over Payment

The $30 million expenditure has raised questions about cost-effectiveness, transparency, and Ghana’s public project management practices amongst Ghanaians.

Critics argue that such projects are commonly executed at no direct cost to governments, with airlines typically supplying landing forms and systems. Others suggest that even advanced digital systems with big data analytics and cybersecurity features should not cost as much.

This scenario has reignited concerns over potential inefficiencies and inflated costs in Ghana’s public project execution processes. Observers also highlight the need for greater accountability and clearer justification for large expenditures in future modernization efforts.

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