Ghanaians in Singapore call for acceleration on National ID

Singapore, Sept. 22, GNA - Ghanaian residents in Singapore have urged the Government to accelerate work on the implementation of the National Identification Card to ensure easy identification of persons claiming to be Ghanaians when arrested abroad.

They explained that a large number of people, who have had a brush with the law in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and other parts of South East Asia claimed that they were Ghanaians by showing their Ghanaian passports but indeed they knew next to nothing about the country, its people and some common but intelligible things that a real Ghanaian should know about his country.

They indicated that through their travels, national identification cards have been requested and the lack of it was becoming a severe strain.

The Ghanaian residents made the appeal at a dinner with Mr Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Panning, in Singapore on the fringes of the International Monetary Fund / World Bank Annual Meetings which ended on Wednesday September 20, 2006.

The group said Ghanaians registered in that country were about 40 and they met the Minister to put their grievances directly before the Executive.

Also present at the Meeting was Dr Anthony Osei-Akoto, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning; Dr Mohammad Bawumia, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana; Dr F. Addison and Mr George Abaloo all of the Bank of Ghana, who took turns to explain the improving micro and macroeconomic situation in the country.

The group which has Mr Bill Yeboah Kyeremeh, an IT Consultant as its leader, explained that the problem of identifying Ghanaians abroad was a major one that must be addressed by government as quickly as possible.

"We believe that Ghana has worked hard to build an enviable image all over the world - Busumuru Kofi Annan, the Presidency and the recent exploits of the Black Stars - and we cannot sit unconcerned for people we certainly know are not Ghanaians, but are black, to destroy this." Mr Kyeremeh and other members of the Ghanaian residents pleaded with the Government to intervene in the cases of Ghanaians imprisoned in Singapore for one reason or the other.

The group was made up of mainly of students in universities, IT consultants and experts, engineers, footballers, lecturers, doctors, home makers and others who are non-skilled.

Responding, Mr Baah Wiredu said the Government had initiated many policies and programmes on the micro-economic and macro-economic fronts to ease the development of businesses and free capital for the development of the private sector.

"We have started a number of programmes such as the youth in employment; capitation grant for children of school going age; creating jobs and above all create wealth through the Presidential Special Initiatives."

He said a number of roads, bridges, hospitals and clinics had been built and continue to be built as a means of not only making the lives of Ghanaians much easier but to place the country in the league of performers.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said the country was currently experiencing serious energy shortage and had introduced a load shedding exercise. "To address this, we are in discussion with the Chinese government to explore how to make use of a 600 million loan to complement the setting up of an additional energy generation capacity," he said, adding," the Osagyefo Barge was being moved to Tema to boost current energy levels.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said: "We need the money you send home annually, estimated at about two billion dollars, but we require your expertise too.

"In fact, you do not need to be physically present to place your expertise at the disposal of the country. But where it is possible for you to return, please do so."