By Jesse Ampah Owusu
Accra, March 22, GNA –A total of 17,918,135 Ghanaians have registered for their National Identification Card (Ghana Card) since the commencement of mass registration (April 2019 to March 15, 2024).
Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), who disclosed this, said out of the number, 3,330,767 were students, 1,058,393 were unemployed citizens and 13,522,591 employed citizens.
He added that the Authority had issued 17,133,993 cards within the period.
Professor Attafuah said this when he presented a public lecture organised by the School of Technology and Social Sciences of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.
The lecture was on the topic, “Empowering Citizens: Exploring the Role of Digital Identity in Socio-Economic Development.”
Mr Attafuah said 15.7 million citizens registered in the first year of the mass registration, adding that, they recorded 250,000 registrations in a day.
He hinted that the Authority would in three months’ time start the registration of students in basic schools and Ghanaians abroad.
“We will be working in the schools in a very systematic manner, where we will collaborate with teachers and parents to ensure we do not disrupt their academic calendar.”
“For Ghanaians abroad, we will be collaborating with our missions in that regard. Our plan is to progressively enrol all Ghanaians in Ghana and abroad in the National Identification System,” he added.
Prof. Attafuah said the registration process had been smooth within the period and had enabled them gain accurate and up-to-date data.
He said the Authority was open to collaborating with other state institutions that would need their data to enhance their services, citing institutions such as the Ghana Statistical Service and the National Service Scheme.
“The GSS, for instance, will not need to send people to be going around to collect data but can collaborate with us to get this data from a click,” he added.
GNA