China tops foreigners with Ghana Card – NIA

China is the country with the greatest variety of foreigners who have been awarded a Non-citizen National Identity card, according to the National Identification Authority (NIA) (Ghana card).

In response to a query from the Ghana News Agency, Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, Executive Secretary, NIA, made this statement at a press conference in Accra on Friday to commemorate this year’s International Identity Day.

This is in light of the recent issue surrounding Huang En, also known as Aisha Huang, a Chinese citizen with a non-citizen card, who recently entered the country after being expelled in 2018 for allegedly engaging in illegal mining.

China is the country with the most non-citizen Ghana cards granted, with a total of 34,712 cards, or 22% of the 161,007 residents from 202 foreign countries.

With a total of 25,873 playing cards, Nigerians made up the second-largest population with non-citizen Ghana cards, while 20,110 of the cards’ bearers were Indian citizens.

According to data provided by NIA, the number of playing cards distributed to Germans was 4,329; to Lebanon was 4,324; to the United Kingdom (UK), 4,133; to South Africa, 3,194; to Cote D’Ivoire, 2,222; and to Gabon, 1,958.

Giving an update on the number of cards that have been issued throughout the country to date, Prof. Attafuah said that as of September 15, 2022, a total of 17,163,081 people have signed up for the NIA system, with 16,627,326 cards printed and 15,869,026 cards being issued.

The Executive Secretary announced that the Authority had established a robust system to verify all identification cards used by Ghanaians to conduct banking transactions and to verify foreign nationals who would use the card to apply for or renew a residence permit or open or operate a bank account in the country.

Prof. Attafuah urged African states to step up efforts to ensure that citizens had valid identification in order to promote social, economic, and political inclusion on the occasion of International Identity Day.

He said that the country would take no chances in ensuring that the Ghana card became “the sole source of proof,” stating that the Authority had since January 2021 introduced a verification mechanism that required banks to validate customers who used the card for multiple transactions.

With this verification mechanism, whether you visit the bank with or without your Ghana card, the bank may confirm your identity as part of KYC (Know Your Customer) and provide you with a service, according to Prof. Attafuah, who is well-known.

The Executive Secretary made a suggestion that the NIA will start registering Ghanaians abroad in November 2022 and set out on a plan to register children in the country between the ages of 4 and 15 in December 2022.

According to Prof. Attafuah, registration for the cardboard for refugees would start the next week.

He declared that ongoing registration would be done in all 275 district offices of the NIA as well as the 16 designated regional offices.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com