NIA to Decentralize In April 2020

Chief Executive Officer of the National Identification Authority, Professor Ken Attafuah has announced that District Offices of the Authority will be established in April 2020.

According to him, the Authority has a schedule of activities including the mass registration exercise for the Ghana card, which is expected to end in March next year, after which the decentralization will follow.

Speaking on the Keta based Jubilee radio, the CEO took time to explain how the authority is implementing the ongoing mass registration exercise, stating emphatically that Ghanaians are to expect the establishment of their District offices after the mass registration exercise is completed.

Responding to issues of extortion by some officers at the registration centers, Professor Ken Attafuah directed Ghanaians to lodge official complaints through the head office helplines for their complaints to be addressed by the Authority.

Speaking on the difficulties Ghanaians go through in some areas to acquire the Ghana card, the CEO said his office is aware of the challenges in the system and has taken steps to ensure that no Ghanaian is left out in the exercise. He assured Ghanaians that the authority has plans to conduct a mop-up in areas where many Ghanaians were not able to register after they receive a new set of equipment scheduled to be delivered at the end of the month.

“We are expecting additional equipment at the end of the month. When we receive them, we have to do the installation of soft wares, recalibrate the whole system, then we will come back and mop-up. We do not want any Ghanaian to be left out. We expect that 80 percent of Ghanaians would have been registered in mass registration exercise, then the remaining 20 percent will be done at the district level when the offices are established”.

Professor Attafuah further reiterated that Parliament of Ghana is working to decide on fees to be paid for the renewal of cards after the 10-year validation period and no Ghanaian should pay money to anybody to be registered.

Story by Emmanuel Dovia

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