The Registrar of Births and Deaths, Samuel Adom Botchway, has assured Ghanaians living in Italy that the challenges surrounding the authentication of Ghanaian birth certificates for use at the Italian Embassy have been resolved.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Mr. Botchway revealed that the issue stemmed from a request by Italian authorities demanding that Ghana switch from a digital to a manual signature format for the certification of birth certificates.
“The major problem was coming from Italy because the Italian government said we must change the digital signature to a manual one,” he explained.
He noted that the directive created unnecessary delays and confusion for Ghanaians seeking to validate their documents for travel or residency purposes in Italy.
“But how would I know that a birth certificate is being taken to the Italian Embassy? It became a bit of an issue, but thankfully, I engaged the ambassador, and it has now been resolved,” he added.
Mr. Botchway further assured that any Ghanaian currently in Italy, or planning to travel there, who faces similar authentication issues can directly contact his office for assistance.
“If any Ghanaian in Italy or going to Italy has this challenge, they can come to me to sign and authenticate their documents, or any of my two deputies can also do it,” he said.
The Registrar emphasized that while Ghana is open to cooperation, its sovereign procedures and legal frameworks must be respected.
“I don’t really know what the challenge of the Italian government was, but the truth is Ghana has its own laws, and they cannot impose their decisions on us,” he maintained.
Source: Gertrude Otchere
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