Rawlings suggests to NIA to reconsider stance on voters’ ID

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has clarified that his decision to register for the Ghana Card, is not admission that all is well with the ongoing registration process of the National Identification Authority (NIA).

After getting his card on Tuesday, many inferred that the move by Rawlings who founded the opposition National Democratic Congress, was a betrayal of the NDC minority in Parliament who have boycotted the process.

The minority insisted that Voters’ ID should be used as a proof of national identity instead of limiting the requirements to passport and birth certificate or getting two registered persons as guarantors.

The minority feared many Ghanaians would be denationalised by the process.

Read: Minority sustains boycott of Ghana Card registration, threatens legal action

But the National Identification Authority has expressed surprise at the posture of the minority in parliament. READ MORE

A statement issued by Mr. Rawlings’ office said, registering for the Ghana Card is not “a call to members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to disregard the position taken by the party and the minority in Parliament”.

“The office wishes to state that it is spurious to suggest that former President Rawlings made a call against the minority or the party.”

The principle of Ghana having a valid identity card system, the statement said, is what the former President is committed to and he respects positions taken to ensure that the process is transparent and easily accessible to all.

“The former President urges all stakeholders, especially the National Identification Authority and both the Minority and Majority caucuses in Parliament to deliberate dispassionately on the concerns, many of which are legitimate, in a bid to bring sanity into our democratic process and ensure that all eligible Ghanaians benefit from the process.”



Meanwhile, former President John Agyekum Kufuor has appealed to the Authority to broaden the requirements to include voters’ ID.