The Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Professor Kenneth Agyeman Attafuah, has expressed worry about the large number of Ghana Cards present in NIA offices around the nation.
He claims that more than 600,000 Ghana Cards have been manufactured but are currently sitting in offices because their recipients have either declined to pick them up or have been given obstacles to overcome.
“The number of cards at our offices all over the country that have been printed but have not been issued to Ghanaians is 642,403 as of last week,” Professor Attafuah told Accra-based Peace FM on Monday.
“There are others we call to receive their cards, but they don’t come; others also insult our officials when they are called,” he added.
While acknowledging that there are some difficulties in getting the cards to the receivers in the hinterlands, Prof. Attafuah urged the government to give them vehicles and logistics to facilitate travel to the remote places.
He further urged those who had not received their cards to visit their offices, adding that “there is also a certain minimum obligation on the citizenry to put in a little effort to receive your card.”
The NIA has come under several criticisms from the public over the delay in producing the Ghana Cards since the commencement of the exercise in 2017.
So far, the authority has registered 17,383,260 citizens, of whom 16,751,553 cards have been printed and 16,107,654 cards issued.
The National Communications Authority (NCA) recently threatened to disable the sim cards of subscribers who have not reregistered their sims, most of whom are yet to obtain their Ghana Card, the primary identifier for the registration.
