Former President Kufuor Needs Tutorials on the Requirements for National Identity Card

How best can I educate former President J. A. Kufuor on the requirements set by the National Identification Authority (NIA) for a qualifying person to be issued with Ghanaian national identity card? Is former President Kufuor serious at all with his proposition that voter identity cards issued to many a person in Ghana without scrutinizing their actual nationality but on presentation of their National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card be accepted as their credible evidence of their Ghanaian nationality?

I am sure at his age and lack of time, he cannot read all publications, both intelligently-educative and stupidly-condemnatory ones put out in our media, especially by self-made writers and journalists including Rockson Adofo or else, he will not be insisting on, and be supportive of the NDC, calling for the acceptance of voter card as enough proof of one’s Ghanaian nationality.

For the information of former President Kufuor, did he carry out or put stringent measures in place to verify one’s Ghanaian nationality before people were registered onto the NHIS to avail themselves of the almost free healthcare he introduced during his tenure of office? To the best of my knowledge and research, the answer is a Big NO! The NHIS card was issued to anyone in Ghana willing to access the free healthcare without necessarily checking their actual nationality as whether being a Ghanaian native, legal or illegal immigrant, or a foreigner.

However, the conniving and now proven incompetent and corrupt Commissioners at the Ghana Electoral Commission right from the former Chairman of the Electoral Commission Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, to the current Chair Mrs Charlotte Osei, did agree that anyone holding an NHIS card can register onto the electoral roll to exercise their suffrage in Ghana in any general elections. Much as discerning Ghanaians opposed it, the NDC-led governments knowing their dubious plans, did consent to the decision by the Electoral Chairs of the Electoral Commission.

We have to be serious for once as a nation and a people and cease our stupid emotions and lack of farsightedness. We have to know, or should be able to tell the repercussions of the adverse effects on the nation and the people of Ghana, the decisions we take today on our whims and caprices.

I totally disagree with former President Kufuor on his suggestion that voter card be accepted to register people for Ghanaian nationality. He must be kidding, if I should put it mildly. All my reasons for disagreeing with him are found in my recently published article on Modernghana on 22 June 2018, titled, “Why Are The NDC Vehemently Against The Requirements Set For Registering For Ghanaian National Identity Card?” The underlying web link takes any interested public reader to the reasons so adduced.

Why Are The NDC Vehemently Against The Requirements Set For Registering For Ghanaian National Identity Card?

Even though I had decided to end my political writings, I could not allow former President Kufuor who should have known better, to come up, and go scot free, with his dangerous and not much thought-through decision in support of the cunning NDC parliamentarians and NDC fraternity who cannot think far outside the box but have allowed their insatiable greed and selfish aspirations to grab power to milk the nation as witnessed previously.

I was about to write something on the insanity of Madam Akua Donkor, but just as I started, I decided to take a glance through the news headlines and wham, there we go with former President Kufuor arguing in favour of the acceptance of the voter card and in support of the NDC’s stance, under the headline, “Use voter IDs – Kufuor backs Mahama, NDC2”. This was on Ghanaweb online and under their General News of Wednesday, 27 June 2018 and under the web link.

Ghana Card: Use voter IDs – Kufuor backs Mahama, NDC

The NIA must stand by their proposed requirements without yielding in to any pressure from anyone or anywhere. All my supporting arguments are already in my published article as cited above.

Rockson Adofo