Prez Mahama Acts On 'NIA Scam'—Imani Ghana

Following our persistent push for the National Identification Authority(NIA) to stop the suspicious scam of $115m ID project, I confirm from one of the very few credible personal associates of President Mahama in an email exchange that, the President has directed the NIA step back from the project and ''present a credible plan for moving forward with efficiency and effectiveness.'' We are grateful.

I informed the President's close associate that the World Bank had on September 26, 2013, provided US$97 MILLION for Ghana's e-TRANSFORM PROJECT - Including US$29.15 Million to Build Robust National Identification System that "will provide support to develop a robust national identification system based on international standards to help prepare Ghana for a modern e-commerce industry, improved e-government services, and alleviate poverty. Support will also be extended to selected agencies and institutions in adopting electronic identification and verification services into their operating processes.

The project will assist the government to link key agencies, including the Births and Deaths Registries, the Department of Social Welfare,Electoral Commission, Statistics Department, Social Security and National Insurance, Immigration, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), etc., using the national identification number as a common identifier"-So, there is money for the same project the NIA claims it is going to China Exim for a whopping $115m.

Instead of pursuing the World Bank money that is more than enough to establish a functional national identification system for Ghana, some awfully greedy individuals at the NIA are vigorously pursuing the expansion of a nebulous and scamming PPP contract to re-register only 15 million Ghanaians at over a whopping cost of $300m.

Is the World Bank the PPP partner that the NIA talks about in its communications? We still need answers from the NIA on what why millions of registered cards for millions of Ghanaians are rotting away in their offices and why in God's name in times of austerity, should we give them money for similar project.

We are grateful to the President for acting and we will be watching how the NIA behaves going forward.

Respectfully yours,
Franklin Cudjoe
Founding President & CEO, IMANI
www.imanighana.com
Wikipedia info
Franklin Cudjoe Declared World Economic Forum's Young Global Leader

The 50 most influential Africans: Franklin Cudjoe
What the World Bank thinks of IMANI
IMANI leads Ghanaian think tanks to top of international rankings