NIA debunks Ken Agyapong's allegation; says no contract has been awarded

The National Identification Authority (NIA) has denied allegations that the Executive Secretary of the NIA, Prof Ken Attafuah has surrounded himself with members of the NDC and has signed a contract with the Margins Group.

Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong accused Prof. Ken Attafuah on Oman FM’s evening Talk Show ‘’Boiling Point’’, Tuesday of being in bed with the NDC and allegedly signing a contract with the Margins Group.

He said this while registering his displeasure about how the National Identification Authority was handling his application submitted for consideration in the printing of national identity cards.

"Prof Attafuah has surrounded himself with NDC functionaries who were advising him that he [Ken] was going to sub-contract to some Indians should he get the nod and that, they should rather go for the other deal, which was wholly Ghanaian," Mr Agyepong said.

President Akufo-Addo appointed criminologist, Prof. Ken Agyeman Attafuah as the acting Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA).

The appointment is among the few undertaken by the president to change the leadership of most government institutions following his assumption of office.

Below is the full statement

NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION AUTHORITY (NIA) – PRESS RELEASE

(Accra 17 March 2017) We are informed of allegations made on Oman FM’s evening Talk Show “Boiling Point” on Tuesday, March 13, 2017 to the effect that the Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Prof. Ken Attafuah has surrounded himself with members of the NDC and has signed a contract with the Margins Group.

We would like to indicate that no such contract has been awarded to any entity by the NIA nor by its Executive Secretary. The Government, through the Office of the Vice-President, has set up four committees (Technical, Legal, Financial and Oversight) to advice on how to revive the National Identification Authority in order to achieve an effective National Identification System (NIS) within one year. NIA Statement March 17 2017 in PDF

The Technical Committee comprised of experts from stakeholder institutions in the Public Service of Ghana and the Office of the Vice-President, has submitted its report to the Presidency.

The Government is yet to make a decision on the way forward. The Technical Committee was constituted by the Vice-President, not the Executive Secretary of the NIA. It comprised of representatives from such agencies as Births & Death Registry, SSNIT, NHIA, DVLA, GIS, EC, NDPC, NITA and GhIPPS.