Ghana card registration: We’ll establish offices across Ghana – NIA

The National Identification Authority (NIA) says it will set up offices in all districts across the country to ease long queues at various Ghana card registration centres.

The Head of Corporate Affairs at the NIA, Abudu Abdul Ganiyu disclosed this on Citi TV/FM’s The Big Issue.

“We are working with our timelines. By the end of October, the offices would have been established,” he said on the show.

Mr. Ganiyu attributed delays in the establishment of offices to recruitment of permanent staff for the NIA.

“We have worked through the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development where through the MMDAs, they have helped us to find office spaces across the country but aside from these offices, you also need to recruit permanent staff.”

There have been long queues at various centres for Ghana card registration after the National Communications Authority (NCA) announced that only the Ghana card will be used as proof of identity for registration.

The re-registration of mobile SIM cards is expected to last for six months, ending on March 31, 2022.

The exercise is in accordance with the Subscriber Identity Module Registration Regulations, 2011, LI 2006 to curb SIM boxing and other criminal activities.

However, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu has argued that undertaking a SIM re-registration exercise will not solve the issue of Mobile Money fraud.

“The solution to the challenges of fraud within the electronic money ecosystem goes beyond SIM registration,” he said.

“We hold the view that the mandatory re-registration of SIM cards provides no substantial benefit in the fight against electronic money fraud, and will face practical challenges such as inbound travellers who require a SIM card without a national ID,” he added.

A similar exercise was organized in June 2020.

—citinewsroom