Be prepared for the Ghana card; do not let the opportunity go waste - NIA PRO to Ghanaians

The Acting Director for the National Identification Authority (NIA), Francis Palmdeti has admonished Ghanaians to prepare ahead of the mass registration for the Ghana card.

He asked individuals who are interested in registering for the Ghana card to get the required documents for the card. Speaking to Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, he said the Ghana card is ECOWAS complaint and so, the Ghana card will allow bearers to travel to any West African country.

He insisted, the law requires interested persons to have a passport, birth certificate or two persons who will witness for them so they are registered. ''I will advise Ghanaians to make good use of the opportunity and prepare for the registration. Ghanaians should prepare and register for the Ghana card because it has a lot of benefits,’’ he said.

The Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Prof. Ken Agyemang Attafuah, the registration in the Greater Accra Region would last for approximately three months, but he was quick to add that a lot would depend on the speed of the registration exercise. The NIA intends to register all Ghanaian citizens in Ghana within one year.

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 NIA started the registration at the presidency and moved to the legislative house.

Currently, personnel from the various security agencies, the Ghana Bar Association are being registered under the special exercise. From the Greater Accra Region, the registration team will move to the Volta Region, followed by the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Brong Ahafo, Western, Ashanti, Eastern and Central regions.

In 2017, Parliament passed the National Identity Register (Amendment) Act, 2017 (Act 950), which was gazetted on December 6, 2017 after receiving Presidential assent on December 4, 2017. Per Section 8(2) of Act 750, as amended, where an applicant is unable to submit any of the above-listed documents, the NIA shall require a relative of the applicant to identify the applicant under oath. Alternatively, where the applicant has no known relatives available, two persons determined by the NIA Board may identify the applicant under oath.



Section 2(2)(b) of the National Identification Authority Act, 2006 (Act 707) enjoins the NIA to ensure the accuracy, integrity, confidentiality and security of the data it collected. Under Section 2(2)(d) of Act 707, the NIA shall make the data in its custody available to persons or institutions authorised by law to access the data.