At long last the Ghanacard has made a landfall; the initial hiccups which played into the game plan of malicious anti-Ghana elements notwithstanding. The bad press which the hiccups attracted for such a great leap in our march to development was not surprising because some do not want it to succeed.
For a complex project such as the Ghanacard, IT-intensive as it is, the setback on the date announced for the takeoff was not an unusual development. It was an auspicious moment for them to release their poisoned arrows which did not hit the targets anyway – many Ghanaians having now known them more than they did before.
The role of a credible national identification card, a smart one of course, in a modern global setting to which we must belong by all means sooner or later, cannot be overlooked. It is one exercise which should be spared the nonsense of sinister propaganda. It is a qualification for the membership of the comity of smart nations.
We cannot avoid showering plaudits on the Vice President whose baby the project is, the proof of ownership being the tongue-lashing he suffered when the project endured the initial challenges. A lot of efforts went into the project – the dividends which would soon be clear for Ghanaians to see and appreciate.
It is interesting that those who have, for political reasons, not associated themselves with the success of the project, decided to even ascribe corruption to it having failed to find cogent reason why Ghanaians should not support it. When the chips were finally laid out it turned out that what the public was being fed was nothing but the output of a propaganda machine gone rusty no longer as effective in churning out complex lies as it used to do.
The Ghanacard is a security identification document of mammoth dimension by all standards and because it is also proof of citizenship, various efforts simple and complex, both criminal though, would be applied by rogues for monetary gains in attempts to acquire it.
Foreigners, especially, ECOWAS citizens, would entice local crooks with money to acquire it. We take solace in the assurance by the Executive Director that adequate security precautions have been taken to deny unqualified persons ownership of the document.
National Identification Authority (NIA) staff who fall for any bait and attempt registering unqualified persons for the card should blame themselves for the consequences their actions would incur.
Even as we have confidence that it would not be easy to breach the security precautions taken to protect the integrity of the Ghanacard, we would not dismiss completely the possibility of slips.
We should like to advise that the NIA segments the country for the purpose of registration so that the usual queues associated with such exercises are avoided. Educational institutions, workplaces, and so on should have teams of NIA staff coming to register qualified people.
The qualifications for the acquisition of the card should remain as it is. Those who are demanding the variation of the status quo have sinister political reasons for their requests and should be ignored.
The public education of Ghanaians should be mounted so that as many citizens as possible would be informed sufficiently to turn up to have their details captured so they too can have the Ghanacard.