One of the most outstanding achievements of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government and which stands it apart from its predecessor is the rollout of the Ghana Card.
Previous efforts at the goal registered a failure after so much was injected in what looked like a promising project.
Enter Ghana’s Digital Magician Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and a successful rollout was recorded.
It is a success which is resonating in various spheres of our national endeavours. From banking to mobile phone money applications, the place of the Ghana Card can be identified.
In spite of the blemish-less feat, some challenges have been encountered by a section of the population which needs addressing.
Word has reached us severally about how some residents of our many Zango communities sprawled across the country encounter challenges when they seek to acquire the citizenship identification card.
Such persons are fourth or even fifth generation descendants of migrants from the various parts of the sub-region.
Some of these persons are descendants of migrants who took part in the physical development of the Gold Coast now Ghana yet when they turn up at the NIA office the treatment meted out to them leaves much to be desired.
The point is not to ask that applicants should not be vetted to determine the authenticity of their citizenship, especially when there are doubts. NIA officials must be educated about the fact that not all Muslims or even Zango residents are non-Ghanaians and in case of doubts such should be expressed with courtesy.
The Zangos are critical components of the country made up of fifth generation of migrants, their forebears having served in the Gold Coast Constabulary and later the Gold Coast Police, the nucleus of today’s military and police. They worked tirelessly for the construction of our railway lines and even the road network and cocoa plantations at a time the indigenes were not primed for such tasks.
These are citizens especially since some of them have indigenous mothers or fathers.
Although NIA officials might claim to be working with the law which demands that applicants of the Ghana Card (citizen) must have one of their parents hailing from Ghana, the quickness with which applicants wearing Northern dresses are regarded as foreigners and therefore quizzed in a manner which compromises their self-esteem must be rethought.
Are we now challenging the citizenship of our top-scoring footballers from the various Zangos in the country to the extent that they cannot claim to hail from Nima, Sukura in Accra or Aboabo, Asawase or Old Tafo? Must they pretend to hail from Yendi or Sandema to be considered for the Ghana Card?
Residents of the many Zangos are grumbling over the seeming discriminatory attitude towards inhabitants of our Zangos, especially when they do not know any country as theirs besides Ghana the land of the birth of their great grandfathers.
We are looking at a scenario where Parliament would take another look at the citizenship requirements with a special reference to the Zangos.
It is a delicate and difficult issue which if not managed properly could lead to abuse with fresh arrivals from Niger, Togo, Benin and elsewhere being supported to mendaciously lay claim to Ghanaian citizenship.
There must be identifiable persons of integrity within the Zango communities whose authentication of applicants as inhabitants of these parts of the country should enable the NIA to issue them with the Ghana Card.
Once more we are not asking for a blanket issuance of the Ghana Card to all persons who claim to hail from the Zangos.