Prof Ken Attafuah
THE ISSUANCE of the instant smart national identity card by the National Identification Authority (NIA) is scheduled to commence on November 20, 2017.
This was made known in a public notice circulated by the NIA, indicating that the ID card dubbed, ‘Ghana Card,’ is meant to be the primary ID card that citizens will use to access all services in the country, including even traveling within the West African sub-region.
NIA stated that the Ghana Card would be the only valid ID for application for a bank account, passport, telephone number, property acquisition, driver’s licence and many more.
The registration exercise, the Authority announced, would begin in the Greater Accra Region and move to other regions in the country.
The availability of Ghana Card would eliminate the usefulness of all other cards possessed as Ghanaians, it said.
“The Ghana Card is a national identity card that is issued by the Ghanaian authorities to Ghanaian citizens – both resident and non-resident, and legally and permanently resident foreign nationals,” according to the NIA.
The notice added, “It is proof of identity, citizenship and residence of the holder. The current version is in ID1 format and biometric.”
No Fee!
According to the Authority, there is no fee to be paid for acquiring the card, saying, “The identity card is requested at the districts and is issued for free to all Ghanaians where a digital picture of the bearer’s face and fingerprints are taken.
“The card should be picked up in person after 15 days, where the bearer identifies himself/herself with his/her fingerprints.”
BY Melvin Tarlue