Executive Secretary of the National
Identification Authority, Professor Ken Attafuah has described the Volta as the
most cooperative region throughout the Ghana card registration process.
He praised the comportment of both NIA personnel
and indigenes during the process.
“Volta Region was our best experience,
queues were orderly, the elderly were respected and taken care of. By and
large, the beautiful people were respecting themselves and doing the right
thing,” Prof. Attafuah said.
He made these comments on Thursday, during a
discussion on the widespread reports of challenges and criminalities that have
characterised the Ghana Card registration process.
In the Ashanti Region, for instance, he
described the registration as “the greatest pain, the greatest difficulty”.
“Expanded personnel size, trained and
experienced over time – you know, going through every region and all that
building experience – and we made the requisite arrangements that should have
ensured a much easier process.
Unfortunately, the conduct of some of our staff
has severely undermined public credence, public confidence in the activity that
should, otherwise, have been a pleasant one,” he said.
He, however, explained why all of the personnel
at some centres were not immediately fired on the spot for misbehaviour such as
lateness.
“You cannot fire all these people at the same
time because you will be collapsing the work and you have trained them with tax
payer’s money,” he stated.
Ghanaians aged 15 and above are being taken
through the registration process to receive the Ghana cards.
The Executive Secretary stated that people who
are below this age range would be later registered after the main exercise ends
in March this year.
The Ghana Card is a national identity card that
is issued to Ghanaian citizens – both resident and non-resident, and legally
and permanently resident foreign nationals. It serves as proof of identity,
citizenship and residence of the holder.
The current version is in ID1 format and
biometric and can be used for voter registration.
The mass registration of the Ghana Card began on
a regional basis in April 2019 and is expected to continue until all regions
are covered.
So far, over three million people have been
registered for the Ghana card.
-myjoyonline.com
pix – Professor Ken Attafuah