NIA begins distribution of Ghana Cards

The National Identification Authority (NIA) on Wednesday started the distribution of 3,875,441 Ghana cards, an exercise that will be undertaken over a week.

At the end of the exercise, it is expected that 11,062,850 Ghanaians would be issued with the Ghana card.

During a tour of some of the designated collection centres in Accra, the Ghana News Agency observed low turnout in the early hours of the day.

At the United Pentecostal Centre at Odorkor Official Town, human traffic to the centre was non-existent but officials anticipated that through the media advocacy, more people would get to know about the exercise and troop in to collect their cards.

Ms Philomena Tagoe, Coordinating Registrar Officer (CRO) for the Centre attributed the slow pace of the exercise to the fact that it was the first day and was optimistic that the numbers would increase in the coming days.

She said the procedure for collection of one’s card included the mentioning of the name, after which an official would go through the picture register and available cards to pick it out.

When one’s card is found, the person would be asked to clean his or her hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, after which he or she could proceed to either sign or thumbprint on a sheet provided and then claim the card afterwards.

Other centres visited included the Macedonia Methodist Centre where Mr Kwaku Asare, Registrar Officer for the Centre also attributed the slow start to poor publicity.

He urged the public to attach importance to the exercise and not wait for “last minute” as was the usual culture of citizens.

Mr Asare said the card was important and would be needed during the new Voter Registration exercise or aid one to act as a guarantor for a relative or friend when the need arose.

He advised all Ghanaians to observe the necessary COVID-19 protocols to the latter to prevent the spread of the virus.

GNA also observed that other COVID-19 safety protocols such as the use of nose masks and social distancing were being observed.