Applicants complain of inadequate registration officials

Sunyani, May 17, GNA - People processing their application forms for the issuance of the national identification cards in some parts of the Sunyani municipality have expressed worry about inadequate registration officers, making the exercise slow.

At a registration center at Ahenboboano in the Sunyani area, three officials made up of a photographer, registration officer and an assistant processed the application forms for people between the ages of six and above.

This, the applicants said, had been a contributory factor to the slow pace of the exercise expected to end in the municipality on May 28. The exercise started in the municipality on Tuesday May 3.

When the Ghana News Agency visited some of the registration centres the applicants were in long queues patiently waiting for their turn.

Some of them complained bitterly to the GNA that they joined the queues as early as 0600 hours but due to inadequate registration officers they were still in the queues as at 1300 hours.

Mr. Ishmael Arthur, registration officer at the Sunyani Victoria Park, told the GNA that 1,005 applicants had registered their particulars since the exercise was started.

At another center, Mr. Edward Owusu, a registration officer said 1,116 applicants had also registered.

He confirmed that the registration official were few saying 93we have not been able to finish registering all applicants in queue a day".

Mr. Owusu appealed to the National Identification Authority (NIA) to consider extending the deadline for the exercise to enable more people to register in the municipality.

Mr. Abubakari Mohammed, the registration officer at the Berlin Top Temporary Booth, suggested that additional photographers should be engaged to speed up the exercise.