Travelling with the Ghana Card

There is ongoing conversations about the usability of the Ghana Card as a travelling document. But there appears to be more propaganda than facts in the public domain.

In the last couple of days, I have made some efforts to cross-check the veracity of the claims of the Ghana Card as a travelling document.

While returning from Nairobi on September 21, 2024, an immigration officer was asking to see the passports of travellers. A man behind me said he would like to use his Ghana Card, but the official told him she would still have to see his passport.

I later asked an official behind the counter why they needed to see the passport when the traveller has a Ghana Card. He stated that they still need to see the passport because they couldn’t process the Ghana Card.

However, returning from Johannesburg early this morning I sought to know from the immigration officer if I could enter the country with my Ghana Card. He said yes, and pointed to a sticker on the counter reading “Ghana Card”. He explained further that they have the card reader and could read the card, and whichever document I would like to use, either my passport or the Ghana Card would be acceptable. He added that they have the card reader, explaining further that, even if I was entering the country with my passport, they wouldn’t need to stamp in it, and so I could produce my Ghana Card and it would be accepted.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Card is an Electronic Machine Readable Travel Document (eMRTD), as Ghana is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Key Directory (PKD).

This directory serves as a central repository for exchanging the information required to authenticate electronic eMRTDs, such as ePassports, electronic ID cards, and Visible Digital Seals. 

The Ghana Card can therefore be used as an ePassport, provided there is a bilateral agreement between Ghana and the destination country.

In other words, the Ghana Card can be used as travel document to enter any country that Ghana has a bilateral agreement with to make the card the acceptable travel document. Until that is done, Ghanaian travellers, can only use the card to enter Ghana and not any other country.

Within the ECOWAS community, where most of the countries, particularly, Francophone West Africa use national ID cards widely as travel documents, it is very likely possible to use the Ghana Card as a travel document within West Africa.

By Emmanuel K Dogbevi
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