National ID: Minority boycott registration in Parliament

The minority in parliament have said they will not participate in today’s National ID registration and issuance exercise at the Parliament house.

According to the Minority, even before the registration and issuance of the National ID begins a planned meeting between the National Identification Authority and Parliament to give a briefing about the entire exercise and its cost has not been done.
The Minority per their statement signed by their leader, Haruna Iddrisu said they the registration process because only birth certificates and passports will be used for the registration process.

The statement stated that “We remain opposed to the restriction of identification requirements for registration of National ID to Passports and Birth Certificates. Our analysis shows that this will prevent about 23 million Ghanaians from obtaining the Ghana Card and deprive them of any benefit thereof.”

The Minority further accused the NIA of not being transparent in communicating details of the Ghana card project to the public, noting that its information showed that the total cost of the project was $1.4 with a tax exemption of $176 million but the while the Chief Executive Officer of the NIA, Prof Ken Attafuah, insists that the project will cost $ 293 million.

PRESS STATEMENT BY MINORITY IN PARLIAMENT ON REGISTRATION OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT UNDER NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION SCHEME

The Minority Caucus in Parliament has taken note of an announcement that the National Identification Authority(NIA),will be carrying out a registration exercise in Parliament tomorrow,Monday,11th June,2018.

We find this development very surprising for a number of reasons.

First, it was our understanding that the National Identification Authority, would engage Members of Parliament in a meeting to clarify a number of issues relating to the roll out of the exercise. This meeting was duly advertised in the Business Statement at least twice only to be postponed again this time indefinitely when the Business Statement was read by the Majority Chief Whip, Hon. Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh last Friday the 8th of June, 2018. We still have no indication when this crucial meeting will be held.

Second, significant questions remain about the cost, scope and legality of the project as well as registration requirements.

With regards to the cost of the project, the leadership of the NIA, has been less than candid with the people of Ghana. Whereas documents available to us show that the total project cost is $ 1.4 billion which can be broken down down into $1,221,476,123 actual cost and tax exemption of $ 176 million, the Chief Executive Officer of the NIA, Prof Ken Attafuah, is on record as saying it will cost $ 293 million.

We are also aware that despite the provision of Government support by the Akufo Addo government in respect of revenue projections for the project, this has not been brought to Parliament for approval in accordance with Ghanaian Law.

Furthermore, we remain opposed to the restriction of identification requirements for registration to Passports and Birth Certificates. Our analysis show that this will prevent about 23 million Ghanaians from obtaining the Ghana Card and deprive them of any benefit thereof.

We also have grave concerns about potential breaches of Procurement laws and processes.

In view of the foregoing, we are unbale to participate in the registration exercise slated for tomorrow at Parliament house. Subsequent to this statement, we will hold a comprehensive press conference on Tuesday,12th June,2018 to shed more light on our position and matters arising out of the National Identification project.

SIGNED
HON HARUNA IDDRISU
MINORITY LEADER AND MP FOR TAMALE SOUTH
SUNDAY, 10TH JUNE,2018
ACCRA

Meanwhile, registration officers of the National Identification Authority (NIA) on June 4,2018 began the registration and issuance of the National ID at the Jubilee House.
The National ID registration was scheduled to start on Monday, May 28, 2018, at 7:00 AM, at some key state agencies and institutions like Jubilee House, Parliament, Judicial Service and the various security services, but was marred with disappointment.
The May 28,2018 registration fiasco was the fifth time the National Identification Authority (NIA) had missed an announced deadline.

The NIA subsequently apologised to the Presidency and other institutions for its inability to issue the Ghana Card blaming it on “technical difficulties.”

Regional rollout process
From Greater Accra, the exercise would move to the Volta, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Brong Ahafo, Western, Ashanti, Eastern, Western and Central regions in that order.

The exercise is expected to last for two months in the Ashanti Region while one month will be spent on each of the remaining eight regions.

Executive Director of the NIA, Prof Ken Attafuah said the Authority estimates to complete registration of Ghanaians within one year after extending the exercise to the general public.

Registration process
Persons with the right documents who provide right answers to questions will be issued the instant National ID in approximately 30 minutes.

Any Ghanaian who wants to register has a duty to provide basic information and digital address code. The primary documents required are a birth certificate or a valid passport.

However, existing Ghana cardholders can also use it in place of birth certificate or a valid passport.

The National ID will possess peculiar features that will be difficult for individuals to duplicate.