The National Identification Authority (NIA) of Ghana has revealed that more than 800,000 national identification cards, known as Ghana Cards, have yet to be collected.
Prof. Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, the Executive Secretary of the NIA, announced that despite opening numerous district and regional offices for collection, a significant number of registered individuals have not claimed their IDs.
This situation, he added has become particularly problematic as the Ghana Card is the sole national ID required for the recent SIM card re-registration exercise.
Consequently, many individuals have experienced blocked mobile numbers due to their inability to provide the Ghana Card.
In response, the NIA plans to conduct a three-month mop-up exercise to register the remaining citizens and distribute their cards.
In addition to addressing the uncollected Ghana Cards, the NIA says it aims to register the remaining 2.5 million eligible individuals who have yet to participate in the registration process.
The Authority has collaborated with the Births and Deaths Registry and the Ghana Health Service to register newborns and assign them unique identity numbers linked to their parents.
Moreover, a partnership with the National Health Insurance Authority has been established to register and issue Ghana Cards to children aged 6 to 14 years.
Prof. Attafuah emphasized the NIA’s commitment to ensuring social, economic, and political inclusion by extending the registration efforts to specialized institutions such as prisons, hospitals, and homes for cured lepers.
The Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, highlighted the importance of the Ghana Card for official purposes and expressed the need to register all citizens.