Government has handed over a fleet of vehicles and other essential logistics to the National Identification Authority (NIA) to facilitate the nationwide issuance of a national ID card, known as the Ghana Card by the Authority.

Parliament last week approved amendments to the legislation governing the activities of the NIA and the contract for the issuance of the ID Card project, paving way for the nationwide registration process to begin.

At a brief ceremony in Accra on Tuesday March 27th, 2018, the Vice President of the Republic, H.E. Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, on behalf of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, handed over 57 Nissan Hardbody pickups, 5 Toyota Hiace Vans, 60 motorbikes and two generator sets to the Executive Secretary of the NIA, Prof Kenneth Attafuah to be used for the registration and issuance project, set to begin in about a month.

The handover of the vehicles is a further demonstration of Government’s determination to put in the necessary building blocks for the formalisation of the Ghanaian economy and achieve President Akufo-Addo’s aim of a Ghana beyond Aid, Vice President Bawumia indicated.

“This is the first instalment on the sort of logistics that are going to be necessary to undertake this project and by the grace of God I hope in another month’s time we will see the beginning of the mass issuance of the ID cards. “The registration and issuance of the national ID card is a critical piece of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s vision to build a modern prosperous economy.

It is also important that as we put together this ID card, we capture the address of everybody to have a national database.

“Thanks to the government through the Ministry of Finance, resources have been made available and we are able to present today 62 vehicles to the NIA as a way of starting this process. There are also 60 motorbikes and two very powerful generators so that they can never be out of power under any circumstances. “Once Ghana has a unique database where everybody is registered and everybody has a unique number the benefits for all of us will be very apparent.

Banks can easily verify your identity when you open a bank account; same with SSNIT. Getting a passport will become one of the most easy things that will be available to us. Acquiring a driver's licence will be much easier.”

Dr Bawumia pledged further government support to ensure the successful completion of the project, given its immense benefit to the nation. “We will benefit tremendously as a country from this national ID system and I dare say it is probably going to be one of the most if not the most important reforms that we are going to be seeing in this country.”

In a speech read on his behalf, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, Minister of State in charge of Monitoring and Evaluation, who has direct oversight over the NIA, indicated that registration will take place region after region, with Greater Accra beginning the process in about a month’s time. Registrants will need either their birth certificate, a passport, naturalisation certificate or be vouched for by two persons who have already been registered. They will also have to provide their Ghanapostgps address.