NIA in limbo; imported equipments rots at the port

The much-touted National Identification (ID) system has grounded to a halt and is on the verge of chaos as container loads of sensitive equipment shipped in to back-up the data storage system are rotting away at the Tema port, the Republic newspaper can confirm.

More than Ghc450m has so far been blown on the project which is almost a white elephant.

The equipment has been stuck in the port for several months while the National Identification Authority (NIA) looked the other way, reliable sources told the Republic newspaper.

Madam Bertha Dzeble, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the NIA did not have a clue about what was wrong with the clearance of the equipment at the ports when this paper contacted her. But a subsequent inquiry from the Director of Technology at NIA, Osei Griffiths indicated that the problem was documentation.

According to Mr. Griffiths, the reason the equipment is stuck at the ports is because the authority was still working on necessary documentations to clear them.

However, checks at the NIA indicates that apparently, some powerful individuals in the NIA were deliberately delaying the clearance of the new equipment to make a case for private company, Identity Management Systems (IMS) to take the contract for registering Ghanaians.

Investigations by the Republic newspaper indicates that the NIA did not have to pay any money for the new equipment because its France-based technology partners, Sagem (now called Morpho) had shipped them down to Ghana free of charge. All NIA needed to do was to pick up the equipment from the port and start rolling out the IDs.

Deep throat sources have confirmed the ease at which the NIA could have picked up the equipment at the ports. Investigations by this paper indicates that Sagem (Morpho) had duly received clearance from the European Authorities and subsequently shipped the equipment to the acknowledgement of top men at the NIA.

According to a source close to the internationally acclaimed French bio-data company, the equipments were meant to assist NIA in restarting the NIS [National Identification System]....NIA won’t have to pay for this equipment...

To add more industry to their effort, the Morpho footed all the shipping bills and had delivered all documents (Shipment invoice + airway bill) so that NIA could proceed with the customs clearance.

The NIA was only required to fix the broken down air-condition in the room where the sensitive equipment will be installed. However, till date, these measures have allegedly not been taken to receive the equipment.

Currently, the contract for registering indigenous Ghanaians is handled exclusively by the NIA and the process was stalled when the equipment for data collection had a virus attack and when it became apparent that the system established by the government to facilitate a national identification system lacks the capacity to provide for the storage of even half of Ghana’s current population due to a low database system

Morpho, specialized in electronic security solutions, was given the contract to set up the technology needed for the roll-out of the national ID system.

Morpho was also tasked to train NIA personnel to operate the system. The Republic’s information indicates that Sagem won the contract for setting up the national ID system over other bidders including Identity Management System.

Incidentally, when the ID system was separated from indigenous Ghanaians and non-Citizens, IMS put in another bid through a phoney consortium and to take the contract.

IMS is made up of Ghanaian security card company and the International Danish Financial Group (IDFG), under an operational name FIMS; but it appears different interest groups within officialdom are tussling to offload NIA’s responsibility to FIMS.

Some officials are busily castigating Sagem for providing sub-standard equipment, but sources indicate that it is a smokescreen to make a good case for IMS to be given the contract to also register indigenous Ghanaians and issue them cards, a situation that will render the NIA redundant.

This newspaper can confirm that the earlier equipment had registered approximately 10 million Ghanaians before the NIA alerted that the equipment had been compromised by ‘Viruses’ , necessitating a general halt in the national ID system.

However, before Sagem could be forced to rectify the situation, the former Executive Director of NIA Dr. William Ahadzi, allegedly flew his family on a lavish trip to Paris and appended his signature to an agreement insulating Sagem from all obligations.

While the interest groups within the NIA are feverishly pushing to give IMS a bigger role in the national ID system, reliable sources within NIA management board are alerting that the current national identification process initiated and implemented by both the previous administrations of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the John Evans Atta-Mill led National Democratic Congress (NDC) is rapidly turning into a white elephant.

It is believed that the NIA is being ran by a few group of individuals who have virtually personalized the authority as a conduit to fatten their bank accounts. The NIA is allegedly being ran at the whims of these powerful individuals.

Hence, both Ghanaians and foreigners captured in the system who are eagerly awaiting the issuance of their national ID cards risk forfeiting their cards due to the serious confusion engulfing the NIA.

The National Identification Authority (NIA) was set up in 2003 under the Office of the President with the mandate to issue national ID cards and manage the National Identification System (NIS). This resulted in the passing of the NIA Act, 2006 (Act 707) to give it the necessary legal premises on which to operate. The National Identity Register Act, 2008 (Act 750) was also passed to give authorisation for collection of personal and biometric data and to ensure the protection of privacy and personal information of enrollees.