NIA to commence registration in UWR on November 11

The Executive Secretary of National Identification Authority, Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, has announced that registration of residents in the Upper West Region will commence on November 11 and end on November 23.

Professor Attafuah said applicants were expected to present either a birth certificate, a passport or an old Ghana card to authenticate their nationality before the registration and that those who did not have those items were required by law to go through vouching process.

“In this instance, the applicants must choose a relative who has been issued with the card to be present at the registration centre and vouch for them or where there is no relative, two persons who have already registered and have the Ghana cards can vouch for the applicant under oath,” he outlined.

The Executive Secretary stated this during a workshop at Wa on Friday to deliberate with the various stakeholders in the region on the impending registration exercise to be carried out in the region.

The Ghana card,  he noted, was a national identity card issued by the National Identification Authority, which bore the personal information of an individual Ghanaian citizen, whose identity could be verified at all times, adding that, the Ghana card was a national initiative by the Government of Ghana aimed at providing the public with added convenience and ease when conducting transactions with government public sector institutions, civil society organisations and private sector organisations, among others.

“Any person who provides false information during this process is liable to prosecution leading to the payment of a fine and or serving a jail term.” He hinted

He noted that, once the National Identification System (NIS) was fully operational, public services and government departments as well as the various businesses and organisations, would be able to check the identity of individuals through the identity verification service, after they had met the NIA’s accreditation standards, adding that they would also be liable to certain regulations that would guide their use of the system.

 Professor Attafuah used the occasion to also announce that the Authority would soon open new offices in all the 275 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies across the country after the mass registration.

This, he said, would enable individuals who could not partake in the general registration to visit their offices and get registered, adding that, the NIAs objective was to create, maintain, provide and promote the use of National Identification Card in Ghana.

The Acting Head of Legal at the NIA, Ms Theresa Eson-Benjamin, said the NIA was targeting 80 per cent of Ghanaians living in Ghana and abroad for the mass registration so that only 20 per cent or less of Ghanaians would undertake subsequent registration at their offices,

“The National Identification Card registration was free for everyone, whether they were living in Ghana or abroad for the first registration, but said subsequent registrations would go with the payment of fees. The NIA also gives special attention to persons with disabilities, pregnant women and the aged in all the regions,” she said.

She urged the public to report promptly to the police or NIA if the card was stolen, damaged or lost, saying the individual would be required to follow certain procedures to ascertain the veracity of any such report and when established as true, the card would be replaced.

FROM LYDIA FORDJOUR AND RAFIA ABDUL-RAZAK, WA