President Akufo-Addo
President Akufo-Addo exposed the double standards of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the debate over the exclusion of the Voters’ ID from the primary documents for registration for the Ghana Card by the National Identification Authority (NIA).
According to the President, the law governing the NIA was passed by both sides of Parliament with the NDC Minority raising no concerns with the exclusion of Voters’ ID Card from primary documents.
“I had hoped that the exercise to provide all citizens with national identity cards would receive the enthusiastic support of all of us as the project finally gets off the ground after years of willful stagnation and neglect,” President Akufo-Addo noted.
The NDC Minority in Parliament have decided to boycott the process because of the exclusion of Voters’ ID card.
They, therefore, want the Authority to include that on the list of required documents to prove Ghanaian citizenship.
Concern
But speaking at the 2018 graduation ceremony at Ashesi University on Saturday, President Akufo-Addo stated that  the entire exercise had regrettably been embroiled in what he described as “another of those full-scale manufactured storms deliberately engineered to slow down progress in everything we try to do.”
“There is a point of view being argued vociferously that the possession of a Voters’ ID card should qualify one to be issued a national identity card, even though that view was never canvassed during the parliamentary consideration of this matter. I do not think I say anything contentious if I state here that it is well-known that many non-Ghanaians are in possession of Voters’ Cards that they obtained by offering NHIS cards as proof of identity,” he noted.
That, he said, was because “the terms of our National Health Insurance Scheme make it attractive to our neighbours, and many have signed on to benefit from the free healthcare provided under the Scheme. This is why the Supreme Court handed down a ruling that the NHIS card should not be used as a form of identification to register for a voter’s ID card.”
“It should not be in anybody’s interest that we bastardize the identity of a Ghanaian. It should not be in the long-term interest of anybody that we enlist as Ghanaians people whose loyalty to our nation is limited to access to our free healthcare system”, he emphasised, adding, “I certainly have no interest, and no intention to prevent genuine citizens from being issued with identity cards.”
Instead, he insisted “My oath of office is unequivocal that I owe it to the nation to uphold the law and protect our institutions from being undermined. I do not think that there are more credible, basic, documentary requirements for establishing nationality or citizenship than a birth certificate or a passport.”
“An appropriate, acceptable mechanism has been provided in the law to verify the claims of those who have neither.”
“What then are we to make of the outrage being orchestrated by some high-ranking leaders of the opposition, and some members of the Minority in Parliament, when all the evidence points to their enthusiastic support of the National Identity Register (Amendment) Bill when it came before them in the House?” the President asked rhetorically.
Stunning Revelations
He quoted Inusah Fuseini, NDC MP for Tamale Central, who is also the ranking member on the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Select Committee in Parliament that handled the passage of the NIA law, as captured in the parliamentary hansard during the debate on the floor of Parliament: “There is no controversy in the amendments. It seeks to expand the field of information that would be required, and bring the information up to date with modern trends.”
Inusah was not alone. His colleague NDC MP for Banda, Ahmed Ibrahim, was also captured as saying, “Mr. Speaker, from the day of the birth of Jesus Christ, registration and census were done. Therefore, it is very pathetic that, as a country, we do not know who a Ghanaian is… Mr. Speaker, if there is something as a country that Ghanaians should come together and support, I believe this Bill is one of them.”
The NDC MP for Ellembelle, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, said on the floor of Parliament that “the amendment Bill is long overdue, and very critical for our country. The issue of who is a Ghanaian is very critical in this country, especially because of the issues we face.”
According to President Akufo-Addo, “These are samples of the sentiments that allowed the House to accept, unanimously, i.e. without dissent, the Report of the Committee, which stated, amongst others, that the Bill seeks to do away with the use of voters’ identity cards, drivers’ licence and baptismal certificates as proof of citizenship. It, however, maintains the use of birth certificates and passports. It further introduces residence permits and other documents evidencing acquired citizenship. Officials of the NIA informed the Committee that the changes are consistent with the decision of the Supreme Court in Abu Ramadan v Attorney-General delivered in May, 2016.”
Expectation
President Akufo-Addo said, “I pray that we abandon giving politics a bad name, and support this exercise to proceed rapidly to a successful end.
“The language of de-nationalisation or threats of civil war are, to say the least, extremely unfortunate. They can be fittingly described as base forms of self-serving demagoguery.
“The good sense of the Ghanaian people, and the vigilance of the law enforcement agencies will, together, be sufficient to defeat any ill-conceived, destructive adventurer from achieving narrow, parochial, partisan ends, the lust for power should not cloud one’s sense of judgement.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent