NIA to begin mass registration of Northern Region residents

The National Identification Authority (NIA) is to begin registration of residents of the Northern Region to capture their biometric details into the national identification system to aid planning.

Mad. Bertha Dzeble, Director of Public Affairs of NIA who announced this on Thursday in Tamale during a workshop for media practitioners in the region, said the registration exercise would start from the second week of April.

The exercise will bring to eight the number of regions to be covered under the exercise with the Upper East and Upper West Regions being the last to follow.

She said the region was divided into three phases where a team of well-trained registration officers would spend 10 working days to register residents in each phase.

Phase one would involve Central Gonja, East Gonja, Nanumba North, Nanumba South, Yendi and Zabzugu Distritcts.

Phase two districts are Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo, East Mamprusi, West Mamprusi, Gushiegu, Karaga, Saboba, Chereponi, Savelugu and Nanton and the phase three districts comprise Bole, Sawla/Tuna/Kalba, Tamale Metropolis, Tolon, Kumbungu and West Gonja.

She said persons six years and above was eligible to register adding registration centres might correspond to polling station areas in the communities.

Persons to be registered are required to provide amongst others, name, date of birth, place of birth, district of birth, hometown, educational background, occupation postal address, house number and street name.

They are also to bring along to the registration centres verification documents such as baptismal card, or certificate, birth weighing card, voters identity card, passport, drivers’ license, or National Health Insurance Scheme identity cards.

She said persons who do not possess any of these documents should come to the registration centres with their relatives to identify them under oath, adding that registration is free and is an offence to attempt to register more than once.