The Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has responded to claims by former Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charles Owiredu, suggesting that processing of visas by individuals seeking to travel to Ghana was undertaken within five working days under the previous government.

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Charles Owiredu's comment comes after a new visa application policy, announced by the sector minister, which would see the processing of visas take no more than five working days.

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He argued that the process never took 6 weeks to complete under the tenure of former President Akufo-Addo.

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"Hon Foreign Minister, please get your facts right. It is never true that it took up to 6 weeks to process Ghana visa applications. It has always been between 2 - 5 days."

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"The exception will be when the application is incomplete, even with that, the process never took 6 weeks to complete. Under President Akufu-Addo, we even encouraged visa on arrival for year of return, detty December revellers," he wrote in a post on X.In a sharp rebuttal, Mr Ablakwa has insisted that the ministry's embassy websites across the world do not confirm the two- to five-day claim by the former deputy minister.

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"Kindly check our embassy in Washington DC’s website which provides 15 to 20 business days for standard applications, our New York website indicates 3 weeks, our embassy website for Germany says 15 business days, our UK High Commission website indicates 15 working days."

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"None of the websites, which by the way were created when you were Deputy Minister, states that standard visas can be obtained between 2 to 5 days," the sector minister wrote.

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In a Facebook post on Wednesday, May 21, the Foreign Affairs Minister announced that the fresh move forms part of efforts to make Ghana attractive to investors and tourists.

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He noted that the ministry has laid down measures that will allow the policy to be rolled out effectively.

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“On January 7th, President Mahama declared that Ghana is open for business. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we are determined to give real, practical meaning to that promise,” Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa stated.

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According to the minister, the new policy does not imply an automatic visa approval.

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"I must, however, add that this 5-day visa processing policy does not by any stretch of imagination mean automatic visa approval; a decision will be made within 5 working days as to whether one is eligible for a Ghanaian visa or not," he wrote.

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The restructuring is expected to speed up the process that could take an average of four to six weeks.

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Visa applicants requiring further assistance should reach out to ipab@mfa.gov.gh or +233 240 793072.

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