Nana Sifa Twum
19 August 2008
Naples — The sale of Ghanaian passports in Italy is rising to an alarming proportion. A copy of a Ghanaian passport was recently sold on the black market in Italy for about five thousand US dollars.
The situation has arisen primarily because many people, including unscrupulous ones and criminals want to take undue advantage of the highly profiled name of Ghana to go about their international criminal activities.
The Ghanaian ambassador to Italy, Mr. Charles Agyei-Amoama disclosed this disturbing development at the opening session of the 14th Annual Euro-Ghanaian Seventh-day Adventists camp meeting in Naples, Italy.
Over one thousand Ghanaian Seventh-day Adventists form the UK, France, Austria, The Netherlands, Germany and Italy attended the five-day event under the theme 'Revisiting the Faith of our Father'.
There were delegates form Ghana and the US. Among other things the session was aimed at reviving the faith of members, review the past year's activities and strategise for the coming year.
Issues discussed included how to assist Ghanaians in distress situations in Europe and the need to support educational and health projects in Ghana.
Mr Agyei-Amoama mentioned that recently the office of the Embassy was broken into and nearly 300 blank Ghanaian passports stolen. 'Even though we were able to retrieve them with the help of the police, this gives us an indication of what is happening to our passport', the Ghanaian ambassador noted.
He said his office has also received a number of reports regarding the sale of Ghanaian passports and steps have been made to arrest the situation.
Mr Amoama said his office has been very vigilant in trying to curb the undesirable development. He therefore asked Ghanaians to help the good name of Ghana from being dragged into the mud by criminals.
He was of the view that all these are happening because the nation has so much developed in the last eight years of NPP rule and the image of the country has risen so much that non Ghanaians feel like being part of it.
He said the embassy and the Italian authorities are on the alert and any individual or group of people caught would be severely dealt with.
The ambassador praised the Adventist Church for its leadership role in the provision of higher education in Ghana. He said the first accredited private university in the country which was established by the church is doing well and has set a remarkable pace for others.
The Chairman of the Union of Ghanaian Adventists Churches in Europe, Pastor Dr. Andrew Ewoo, said the church will continue to work hand in hand with the government in the provision of basic social amenities for the people of Ghana, because the primary aim of the church is to win souls for Christ and this is done basically by meeting all other needs of the people.
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