Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia cutting the tape to outdoor the cars
The activities of the National Identification Authority (NIA) were given a major boost yesterday when Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia donated a fleet of vehicles to the Authority.
The donation comprised 62 vehicles- 57 Nissan Hardbody pickups and five Toyota Hiace buses, 60 motorbikes and two generator sets.
They are meant to facilitate the nationwide issuance of National Identity (ID) cards – known as the Ghana Card – by the Authority, which is supposed to begin late April or early May.
At a brief ceremony at the forecourt of the State House in Accra, Dr Bawumia, on behalf of President Akufo-Addo, handed over the keys of the vehicles and motorbikes to the Executive Secretary of the NIA, Prof Kenneth Attafuah.
He said the handing over of the vehicles was further demonstration of government’s determination to put in the necessary building blocks for the formalisation of the Ghanaian economy and achieve President Akufo-Addo’s aim of a ‘Ghana beyond aid.’
“This is the first instalment on the sort of logistics that are going to be necessary to undertake this project and by the grace of God, I hope in another month’s time, we will see the beginning of the mass issuance of the ID cards,” he said.
He, therefore, considered the registration and issuance of the national ID card a critical piece of President Akufo-Addo’s vision to build a modern prosperous economy, and that “it is also important that as we put together this ID card, we capture the address of everybody to have a national database.
“Thanks to the government through the Ministry of Finance, resources have been made available and we are able to present today 62 vehicles to the NIA as a way of starting this process. There are also 60 motorbikes and two very powerful generators so that they can never be out of power under any circumstances.
“Once Ghana has a unique database where everybody is registered and everybody has a unique number, the benefits for all of us will be very apparent. Banks can easily verify your identity when you open a bank account; same with SSNIT. Getting a passport will become one of the easiest things that will be available to us. Acquiring a driver’s licence will be much easier.”
Dr Bawumia reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring the successful completion of the project.
In a speech read on his behalf, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, Minister of State in-charge of Monitoring and Evaluation – who has direct oversight responsibility over the NIA – indicated that registration would take place region after region, with Greater Accra beginning the process in about a month’s time.
Prospective registrants would need either their birth certificates, passports, naturalisation certificate or be vouched for by two persons who have already been registered.
They will also have to provide their Ghanapostgps address.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent