ICAO Vindicates Bawumia Again As NDC Propaganda Falls Flat – Dr. Boako Explains
Contrary to the widespread propaganda being bandied around by NDC communicators that Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has been disgraced by ICAO as having lied concerning his claims that the Ghana Card has been accepted as an e-passport, it has been revealed that ICAO’s explanation rather vindicates Dr. Bawumia’s claims.
Dr. Gideon Boako, an aide to the Vice President, explains as follows:
In practical terms, the holder of a Ghanacard will be allowed to board a flight to Ghana (receiving country) from any airport, just as with the normal biometric passport, without the need for a visa.
Just like our current normal booklet passport you will need ICAO to approve and capture the data into their Public Key Directory (PKD) for certification before any country can accept it as official travel documents.
Such key ceremony certification as was done on 9 February in the case of the Ghanacard is the ultimate step to take before any national identity card/passport can be used for travelling purposes. Ghana has crossed this stage with respect to the Ghanacard making it officially certified as having the right qualities to be admissible by receiving countries as e-passport subject to country-to-country bilateral agreements.
Through the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), official communication has gone to all border ports that Ghana as a receiving country is accepting holders of the Ghanacard into Ghana. The statement by ICAO that Ghana has crossed the major millstone in efforts to provide for more international acceptance of its biometric electronic travel documents is therefore not inconsistent with official communication from government.
In practical terms, the holder of a Ghanacard will be allowed to board a flight to Ghana (receiving country) from any airport, just as with the normal biometric passport, without the need for a visa.
In a Twitter thread on Friday, February 11, the United Nations specialized agency for civil aviation emphasized that it is not its role to certify the use of a member’s ID card for international travel in place of a passport.
This comes after ICAO on Wednesday, February 9 held a ceremony to celebrate the completion of Ghana’s effort to make the Ghana Card an e-passport, a project spearheaded by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
ICAO had even congratulated Ghana for its decision to join the Public Key Directory (PKD).
In the not too distant future, we expect that electronic visas will be issued under ICAO 2.0 protocols. When this starts, electronic visas could be issued on the Ghanacard under bilateral arrangements with other countries”.