Presidential staff issued with Ghana Cards

Officials of the National Identification Authority (NIA) were at the Jubilee House on Monday to register and issue Ghana Cards to staff of the Presidency.

The exercise, which was to have started last Monday, May 28, could not start because of challenges with connectivity.

Monday’s exercise followed the resolution of the technical glitch which prevented the authority from rolling out the programme fully.

The acting Executive Secretary of the NIA, Professor Ken Agyemang Attafuah, told journalists at the weekend that the problem was resolved in the afternoon of last Wednesday and indicated that more than 500 people had since been registered and issued with their cards.

Officials of the National Identification Authority registering staff of the Jubilee House in Accra. Picture: SAMUEL TEI ADANO

The Ghana Card project is being undertaken under a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement between the NIA and Identity Management Systems Ghana Limited (IMS), a subsidiary of the Margins ID Group.

The acting Executive Secretary Prof Attafuah, led the team for Monday’s exercise at the Jubilee House.

Following last week’s false start, the NIA after resolving the technical challenges said it would not want to announce a date and time for rolling out the exercise but would want to get into the community before announcing itself.

Prof Attafuah in explaining to journalists that the technical challenges were resolved last Wednesday afternoon said they would make an announcement on the schedule for the registration exercise and dismissed suggestions that the technical glitch had been a sabotage.

The Ghana Card will replace the sectoral identity cards in circulation and become the only card to be used in transactions where identification is required as provided by law.

Among other things, it will enable other stakeholders to run their applications on the national identity card.

The roll-out strategy, according to the NIA would be published in detail for everyone to have the opportunity to see where he or she would have to register.

But in the meantime, the NIA has explained that it was undertaking the exercise on regional basis and that after the registration of staff at the Presidency, Parliament, Judicial Service and the security agencies, it would move into the community starting with Greater Accra where it will use three months for the exercise.

After Greater Accra, the team will move to Volta followed by Northern, Upper East and West and then the Brong Ahafo regions.

After Brong Ahafo, the team will move to Ashanti, Eastern, Central and Western Regions. Apart from Greater Accra and Ashanti where the team will spend three and two months respectively, they will spend one month in each of the regions.

The registration centres would be similar to what the Electoral Commission uses during the registration of voters.

The NIA is aiming to register all Ghanaian citizens in Ghana within one year and that approximately six months after the commencement of the national exercise in Ghana, it plans to also commence the registration of Ghanaians in the Diaspora.

Read also: Former NIA boss Kwame Griffiths challenges cost of Ghana Card

Writer's email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh

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Officials of the National Identification Authority registering staff of the Jubilee House in Accra. Picture: SAMUEL TEI ADANO