NIA permanent offices up by March

The National Identification Authority (NIA) will set up regional and district offices across the country by the end of March this year to allow for continuous registration for the Ghana card.

The offices will be opened across the 16 regions of the country after the mass registration exercise ends the same month.

The regional and district offices will continue the registration of Ghanaians who could not register during the mass registration exercise.

No Ghanaian will be denied

The Head of Corporate Affairs of the authority, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI), Mr Francis Palmdeti, in an interview, explained that the establishment of the regional and district offices would ensure that no Ghanaian was denied access to a national identification card.

“Those who for any reason could not register during the mass registration can go to the permanent office in the district to register for free when they are set up,” he stated.

Additionally, he said those offices would serve as card collection centres for those who did not get their cards before the exercise moved from their area or region.

The move to establish the regional and district centres is to alleviate the fears of some people who were unable to acquire the Ghana card, also known as the ECOWAS card.

Premium centres

ACI Palmdeti also indicated that the premium registration centres were being worked on for individuals whose work schedules would not permit them to join queues.

With the premium centres, he explained that the individual would book an appointment online for a centre and a registration day at a fee.
“Currently, we are working on site selection and the survey is being done.

We will make those centres public when we are ready,” he said.

The head of Corporate Affairs of the authority further noted that by the end of next month, the authority would roll out a “vigorous” card distribution strategy to issue cards to applicants who had not received their cards.

About the Ghana card

The NIA began the mass registration of Ghanaians for the Ghana card nationwide in April last year and is expected to end in March this year.

With a target of registering about 85 per cent of Ghanaians from 15 years and above by the deadline, the authority had as of January 18, 2020 registered more than 7.35 million Ghanaians in 12 regions.

Out of the number, more than 6.37 million cards have been printed, while 4.32 million cards have been issued.

Mass registration

Every Ghanaian aged between zero and infinity is expected to be registered and issued with the Ghana card.

While Ghanaians living in the country will receive the card at no cost, those living outside the country will pay a fee for the card.

Also, children under 15 years will be registered after the mass registration exercise and issued with two-dimensional (2D) bar-coded cards.