Ghana Card: Akufo-Addo’s attack needless, misplaced – Minority

The Minority in Parliament has said they have no intention of rescinding their decision to boycott the National Identification Authority’s exercise of issuing new national ID cards popularly known as Ghana Card, even after President Akufo-Addo slammed them.

The President last week took a swipe at Minority Members for their decision, saying it is unfortunate that after very careful scrutiny and debate by members of parliament on which IDs should be accepted and which should be rejected, “the country seems to be embroiled once again in another of those full scale manufactured stories deliberately engineered to slow down progress in everything we try to do.”

“There is a point of view being argued vociferously that the possession of a Voter’s ID Card should qualify one to be issued a National ID card even though that view was never canvassed during the parliamentary consideration of this matter,” the President said.

The President stated that he has no personal interest nor intention to prevent genuine citizens from being issued with identity cards.

He called on all Ghanaian for their unparalleled support for the exercise in order for it to achieve its objective of issuing every Ghanaian with an Identity card.

“There are four pages of information that the NIA officials require from us, to help them determine if we qualify for a card. There is the legal definition of who is a Ghanaian and I pray we abandon giving politics a bad name and support this exercise to proceed rapidly to a successful end,” the President stated.

But the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu in an interview with Joy FM described the President’s attack as needless and misplaced.

“Is it not the same ID card which produced President Akufo-Addo as President of the Republic of Ghana, is he casting doubts that non Ghanaians voted for him as President. Since when has the voters ID card lost its potency and importance as a reference document.

The amendment to the Bill emanated from him, what informed the decision, he must share with the Ghanaian public. The President must lead the process for an inclusive national identity system, not for the President to chide the Minority. It is for him to find answers to these questions.”