Confusion Over Ghana Card as an ePassport

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has recently tweeted that the use of a state’s national identity card for international travel is not at the discretion of the issuing authority but is a decision for the receiving state.

This can lead to confusion, as the recent case from Ghana demonstrates.

The story probably starts a lot earlier, but news reports in the Ghanian press dated 13 February ¹ reported that at a ceremony held on 9 February in Montreal, ICAO certified the Ghana Card, the country’s national ID card, as an ePassport. With this certification, the report went on, the Ghana Card has been included in the ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD).

The acceptance of the country signing certificate authority (CSCA) certificate into the PKD means that it would be made available to state authorities worldwide, allowing them to verify the electronic documents issued by Ghana. Receiving states, possessing the public key certificate, could be confident in the authenticity of the documents as well as the integrity of the data stored on the documents.

At the same time, The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) officially informed the International Air Transport Association (IATA) of Ghana government’s decision to fully rollout the use of the Ghana Card as an acceptable travel document for in-bound Ghanaian travellers, starting 1 March.

The Vice President’s office, which had been leading the initiative to make the Ghana Card work as an ePassport, was optimistic about the rollout date, given the installation of readable travel document machines at the Kotoka International Airport and the ongoing training of border control officers to use the machines.

An attachment to the email sent by GACL to IATA stated that ‘following a ‘key ceremony’ at the headquarters of the ICAO… Ghana’s National Identity Card (Ghana Card) is now duly recognised globally as a valid ID Card-passport, a Machine-Readable Travel Document (MRTD) that can be read and verified by ICAO Public Key Directory at most airports.’ 

‘Ghana Airports Company Limited announces to all airports and airlines that holders of a valid Ghana Card should be allowed to board flights to Ghana without the need for a visa. This takes effect from 1 March 2022.’

The notice to IATA was published on the IATA TIMATIC Platform for the general information of all airlines and other concerned stakeholders.

Some airlines servicing the Kotoka International Airport, upon receipt of the IATA notice, have begun preparing for the rollout. For now, it seems that the Ghana Card will be accepted for boarding flights inbound to Ghana, subject to the rules and regulations of immigration and health officers in the 197 eligible ICAOmember countries.

To help clarify the situation, ICAO has described recent media reports that it had certified the Ghana Card and made it equivalent to an ePassport as ‘incorrect’.

In a statement, the organisation explained that its mandate did not include certifying documents that could replace passports for international travel. ICAO further explained that some media coverage of its recent event in Montreal, relating to Ghana signing on its PKD, showed a level of misunderstanding of ‘its role in defining what documents may be accepted by states for the border control and immigration processes’. The statement pointed out how in particular the report suggested erroneously that ‘ICAO has agreed to the equivalency of the Ghanaian ID card and an ePassport.’

Their statement continued: ‘It is the sovereign right of each individual state to decide upon its entry and exit requirements and the documents that need to be presented by those travelling to and/or from its territory.’ ICAO further clarified that even though national ID cards in some instances may also be used as travel documents such situations depend on the receiving state or based on existing bilateral arrangements.

On 18 February, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, attempted to resolve the ongoing confusion surrounding the eligibility of the Ghana Card as a passport substitute.

‘For the time being, I urge travellers to, as always, bring their passport and other forms of the required documentation with them,’ he told the Pan African Visions magazine.

1 - https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/heres-what-ghana-card-as-e-passport-means-forinternational-travel/dm6sn69