The National Identification Authority (NIA) is scheduled to roll out a new national Identity Card in November.
This would phase out the existing card which was issued by the Authority some years ago.
Speaking at the launch of the ‘Ghana Card’ – as it is called – in Accra yesterday, President Akufo-Addo said this signals “the dawn of a new day in biometric identity management in Ghana and the virtues of a public-private partnership arrangement in meeting our development needs.”
This was after he had gone through registration formalities and was issued his card.
President Akufo-Addo said the commencement of the production and distribution of the Ghana Card – an instant, free National ID card for all Ghanaians – is yet another indication that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was committed to its manifesto promises.
“The NPP government, under my leadership, has not only prioritized the NIA, but also demonstrated commitment to making the NIA work again. Today’s ceremony also constitutes a practical demonstration of the fulfillment of yet another promise of my party, the New Patriotic Party, during the 2016 campaign, that we will mobilize and formalize the Ghanaian economy through the establishment of a credible national database and using the National Identification System (NIS) as the primary identifier as prescribed by the law.”
The registration process started under the erstwhile Kufuor administration but stalled under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
President Akufo-Addo blamed the circulation of too many IDs in the system on the failure of the previous government to complete the process.
He expressed optimism in the ability of the card to improve the quality of life of Ghanaians.
Between July 2008 and May 2010, the National Identification Authority began mass registration of Ghanaians for the unique ID card.
A total of 11 million people in six regions were registered in the process. Amidst various challenges, collection of the card started later in 2011.
The programme later ran into trouble, leading to the rejection of the card by key institutions.
The president has, therefore, pledged to provide the NIA with the requisite support to enable it perform its functions effectively.
The new Ghana Card is said to be an improvement over the previous one and meets all international standards required of such identity document.
It is said to have been enhanced to take advantage of new technologies such as tactile elements for the blind, chip embedding technology and iris capabilities in addition to taking all 10 fingerprints of an applicant.
“With a 128-kilobyte capacity, the Ghana Card will enable other stakeholders to run their applications on the national identity card. Ultimately, the card will replace the sectorial identity cards in circulation, and shall be the only card to be used in transactions where identification is required as provided by law,” President Akufo-Addo revealed.
Apart from that, he indicated that “this registration exercise is also unique in the sense that it would involve the registration of ages 0-5. This is a historic opportunity for us to sanitize and rationalize birth certification in Ghana and ensure social inclusion right from birth.”
