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As of the end of August of this year, the National Identification Authority (NIA) had issued 15,826,148 Ghana Cards out of the 16,627,325 printed cards from the 17,109,627 registrations.
For a variety of reasons, including some requiring updates, people having trouble finding their collection locations, and others “feeling they have no need for them now,” around 1,283,479 cards remain uncollected.
Last Friday, the Executive Secretary of the NIA, Professor Kenneth Agyeman Attafuah, said during a press conference in Accra that while his organization acknowledges there were some difficulties with the issuance of the cards, it could not be held solely responsible if some people still did not have their cards.
He claimed that several Ghanaians had missed out on possibilities to apply for their cards at the decentralized levels.
“We still have a few cards that were given out during the 2020 bulk registration campaigns.
About three months ago, I visited Koforidua for a surveillance exercise.
I called the person whose card was prepared to pick it up.
That gentleman replied that the moment was not right for the collecting of cards and that he would return for it later.
He recalled an incidence that occurred at Akim Oda where a woman had requested money before she would go for her card and claimed that certain Ghanaians were even demanding to be given money before they would go for their cards.
Despite these difficulties, Prof. Attafuah promised that the NIA would make sure that everyone who had registered could obtain their cards because they had already been paid for to print.
Prof. Attafuah stated that the NIA was working round-the-clock to ensure that the cards were issued and that those who had registered but had not yet received their Ghana cards could still be validated, as needed, because great progress had been achieved with the data harmonisation effort.
He said that thanks to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed over data harmonisation and use by the NIA and the various organizations, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), 24 universal banks, mobile network operators, and all agencies requiring the Ghana Card as the only form of ID for business transactions had all successfully connected to the NIA’s verification system platform. Once they had that system, verification was then both possible and simple.
“Between 2018 and 2022, the NIA has executed an MoU for the delivery of data harmonisation and integration services with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Students Loan Trust, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, the BoG, the ARB Apex Bank, the 24 universal or commercial banks in the country, as well as Airtel/Tigo, MTN, Vodafone and GLO.
“The NIA has completed data harmonisation and transfer of data sets to the following institutions following the execution of MoUs with them — the GRA: 15,797,860 data sets transferred; SSNIT: 15,412,055 data sets transferred; NHIA: 15,317,256 data sets transferred; Airtel/Tigo: 1,766,546 data sets transferred; MTN: 11,524,584 data sets transferred; Vodafone: 10,340,802 data sets transferred, and GLO: 142,215 data sets transferred.
In order to enable quick and simple registration processes, Prof. Attafuah recommended persons who wished to register for the card to make appointments before visiting the registration centers.
Regardless of their willingness to pay, he warned those who showed up without an appointment at 4 a.m. that they would run into those who had appointments that started at 8 a.m. and might end up spending hours there.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
