Ghana Card Registration Underway

Registration officers at the Korle Bu Police Station

The registration of eligible Ghanaians for the Ghana Card by the National Identification Authority (NIA) began on Monday, 29th April, 2019 in the Accra West operational zone of the Greater Accra region.

The exercise started at 8am at various centers in the Ga South, Ga Central, Ga West, Okaikoi, Ablekuma and Odododiodio municipalities with some anxious residents already at the centers before registration commenced.

However, issues of inadequate documents on the part of candidates and late presentation of materials like cards and faulty networks delayed the smooth start of registration.

Visits to the Korle Bu Police Station, St. Mary’s Senior High School, Abosey Okia Central Mosque and Gelilee Methodist Church, centers showed officers at post ready to register eligible residents.

“We are at post and as you can see we have set up ready to register them but we are yet to receive the cards,” the Coordinating Registration Officer (CRO) at the Korle Bu Police Station, Joshua King said.

He noted that about 100 people had already visited the center before 11:30 am expecting to be registered.

Residents of Chorkor waiting at the Galilee registration center

“We have explained the issue to them and assured them that the district registration officer was making sure the cards get to us as soon as possible.”

A nurse at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, (KBTH) Louisa Ahiafor, who was at the center to register but was told to come back in a few minutes, said she will wait till the cards were available for her to register.

“I came to register but they told me it was left with the cards I have been here for over 30 minutes,” Ahiafor noted.

At the St. Mary’s SHS, the officers noted that they were waiting for the green light from the national office to begin work as at 11:45 am.

“We have everything here ready, we are just waiting for the network issue to be resolved for us to start,” Richard Nii Lankai Lawson, the center’s CRO said.

Mr. Lawson also noted that some residents who had been to the center did not have the required documents for the registration.

“We try to tell them that even if they do not have the document they can get a relative to guarantee for them to be registered,” he said.

But residents at the Gelilee Methodist Church, Chorkor center could not hide their frustration at the delay in start of the exercise.

They were visibly unhappy about the issue saying, “The authorities should have ensured that we had all the materials for the exercise before they start, now we have left what we are doing to be here but nothing is happening.”

Registration was yet to commence as at the time Daily Guide left the centers.

At other centers, however registration was ongoing smoothly without any issues.

The Accra West registration is expected to end on May 26, 2019, with Accra East following until July 6, 2019.

By Jamila Akwely Okertchiri

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