The annual Henley Passport Index released on Jan. 9 showed an overall decline in the strength of African passports compared to other continents. The strongest African passport belongs to the Seychelles, with Mauritius and South Africa ranked second and third, remaining unchanged from the previous year.

In the 13 years that Henley & Partners have tracked the world’s passports (using data from the International Air Transport Association and its own research as a residence and citizenship consultancy), African countries have suffered the biggest decline as a bloc, accounting for 19 of the 27 biggest fallers in the past decade.

Seychelles and Mauritius were the only two countries to improve their standing over the decade. Seychelles climbed 17 places, and Mauritius 16 places. The islands’ improvement is largely due to being the only African countries who have a visa-waiver agreement with the Schengen area, according to Henley.

The Seychellois passport’s strength may also be attributed to the island nation’s own openness as a visa-free country, with no requirements for any traveller wishing to visit. Similarly, Mauritius does not require a visa from a majority of the world’s travelers, and only requires 16 countries’ citizens to apply for a visa before travel.

The Seychelles, Mauritius and South Africa retain their top spots on other passport indexes too. Passport Index, which ranks visa free scores and passport power in real-time, has the same top four African countries, but ranks Lesotho and Swaziland in fifth and sixth place ahead of Malawi and then Namibia.

The rankings indicate just how hard it still is for African travellers. Apart from the bottom ranked countries, most Africans can travel to fewer than 100 countries without a visa. For example, Nigerians may only travel to 46 countries without a visa, while Moroccans are slightly better off at 61 countries. Nigeria is the biggest faller over the last decade, losing 22 spots, followed by Sierra Leone and Libya, which dropped 20 and 18 places respectively.

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They said constitutional provision requires the President to send prior notification to Parliament before leaving the country.

[contextly_sidebar id=”WbSbHeP4D1MtAnP3IQWKbEaeaBDhPlWt”]The President on Monday evening left Ghana to attend meetings of the United Nation’s Advocacy Group of Eminent Personalities on the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals in Belgium, and the United States of America (USA), in his capacity as co-Chairperson of the Group.

He is also expected to attend the G-20 Partnership for Africa summit in Germany.

But the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, while speaking on the Floor of Parliament on Wednesday, quoted the constitutional provisions saying: The President shall not leave Ghana without prior notification in writing signed by him and addressed to Speaker of Parliament.”

“Mr. Speaker, as we speak,  message of the President since yesterday hasn’t gotten to us. The people of Ghana need to know the whereabouts of the number one person in the country. We do not know his whereabouts and Mr. Speaker…you should have official notification from him indicating to the people’s representatives where he is, what he is doing for us to wish him well,” he added.

Mr. Iddrisu further argued that, the President is being disrespectful for not notifying Parliament with regards to his absence in the country.

“The president must demonstrate respect to the people of Ghana and the Parliament of Ghana on indicating in writing his whereabouts officially. He swore an oath to uphold the constitution of the republic of Ghana. He is showing disrespect to the provision of article 59 and 60 of the Constitution,” he added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey & Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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