Why some applicants are yet to get their Ghana Cards - NIA boss explains

The National Identification Authority (NIA) has attributed the delay in issuing Ghana cards to some applicants to inconsistencies in the data provided by the affected applicants.

Explaining why many applicants were yet to have their cards printed or issued to them, the Executive Secretary of the NIA, Professor Ken Attafuah said the NIA was resolving the issue on a case by case basis.

For instance, according to him, a lot of inconsistencies have been detected in the dates of birth and names provided by the affected applicants.

He said the system has found out that the affected applicants used different names and dates of births when they first registered when the national identification registration exercise was first introduced during former President John Kufuor's era/

He said since the system has been designed in a robust manner to biometrically crosscheck the new data being provided by current applicants with what was initially provided during the first registration, the system was "arresting" the data inconsistencies and red-flagging them for adjudication.

This is why Professor Attafuah says that some people have registered but are yet to be issued with their cards because the system was awaiting the adjudication of the issues of inconsistencies in names and dates of birth.

“When people go to register, they are required to provide consistent information, you could only be born one day, there are people who registered for the Ghana card during President Kufuor, Mills and Mahama eras. They used names or date of births that are different from names and date of birth that they are [currently] presenting to NIA in 2018, 2019, 2020.”, he explained in a radio interview with Accra based Joy FM on Thursday.

Professor Attafuah said the registration process for the Ghana card has been hit by many of such challenges.

He said prominent among the challenges is the unusually large number of persons whose cards have not been issued or printed.

“There are people who have dates of birth at SNNIT seeking to reduce their age during the NIA process, the system arrests them and sends them into adjudication”.

He further explained that the system arrests and sends into adjudication those persons who have not gone through the legal process to change their names and those who present conflicting documentation.

He said where biometrics are identical, there is an arrangement in place to ensure that every single Ghanaian who registered for the card and presents honest consistent information, will get their card, adding that applications which go into adjudication will be resolved on a case by case basis.