Alleged $1.2bn cost of Ghana card: NIA boss fires back

The National Identification Authority (NIA) has rejected claims that it has budgeted about US$1.2 billion for the identification project.

According to the NIA, the project cost was instead US$293 million.

There were reports that the authority was spending a total of US$1.2 billion for the project, which is yet to fully take off, despite several assurances.

But, NIA in a statement published on its website, said such was not the case.

According to it, NIA was expected to complete issuance of the national identification cards also known Ghana card within a period of one-year.

It added that within the period, the state was expected to commit US$124 million for the project while the project partner will commit US$169million.”

“The total project cost for the delivery of the Ghana cards is therefore $293m and not 1.2bn USD. This total is expected to cover the technical and operational cost that will deliver ID Cards to all Ghanaians over the one year period,” the statement added.

NIA in the statement further clarified that after the card has become fully operational, part of the revenue that NIA will be raking in by virtue of the daily use of the card, will be used to manage NIA’s operational cost and pay off the investments that the partners would make over a period of 15years.

“This is projected to be US$1.2 billion over the lifecycle of the project,” the statement added.

The Ghana Card registration again failed to launch last week Monday despite NIA’s assurances.

The three arms of government, former heads of state, journalists and security officials were to be the first to be issued cards before registration opened to the general public.

The NIA has since apologised to the presidency and other institutions for its inability to issue the Ghana Card.

According to the NIA, it was unable to start the registration and issuance of the card as announced due to “technical difficulties.”

In the statement, the NIA said it would outline the challenges it faced in due course.

Monday’s failure marked the fifth time the NIA’s had missed an announced deadline.