Ambrose Dery
Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery, has revealed that a total number of 163,213 foreigners made up of persons of various nationalities have been registered by the National Identification Authority (NIA) as of October 20, 2022.
According to him, China reigns supreme in the registration numbers with 34,935 nationals, while Andorra, ties Saint Barthelemy, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Qatar and some others, sits squarely in last place with registration of one national in the country.
Nigeria, in second-to-first place, has a total register of 26,342 nationals in Ghana, while India follows with 20,296 nationals in the country, who have registered with the NIA.
Answering questions in Parliament, Mr. Dery said 9,576 nationals of USA, 4,417 nationals of Germany, 4,367 nationals of Lebanon, 4,181 nationals of the United Kingdom, 3,212 nationals of South Africa, and 2,238 nationals of France had registered with the authority.
Côte d’Ivoire placed 10th position with registration of 2,208 nationals, while Turkey placed 13th position with 1,789 nationals; Philippines with registration of 1,730 nationals, and Pakistan with registration of 1,515 nationals.
A total of 1,590 Egyptian nationals have also registered with the NIA, 1,711 Cameroonians have registered with the authority.
Renounced Citizenship
The minister disclosed that a significant number of Ghanaians have also renounced their citizenship and taken up nationality with other countries, including Netherland and Germany.
“Please note that 1,958 Ghanaians who have become citizens of other countries and renounced their Ghanaian citizenship, e.g. Germany and Netherlands have also been registered as foreign nationals,” the minister reported.
Mr. Dery asserted that the NIA is mandated to create, maintain, provide and promote the use of the national identity cards commonly known as “Ghana Card” for the advancement of the country’s economic, political and social activities as stipulated in National Identification Authority Act, 2006 (Act 707), with registration ongoing.
The NIA is currently running two Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects, and named them as the Foreigner Identification Management Systems project (FIMS) for the registration of foreigners in Ghana, which commenced in 2012 and the National Identification System (NIS) project which started in 2018 for the registration of Ghanaians from age zero to infinity.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House