Ho, May 28, 2026, GNA – Municipal and District Chief Executives (MDCEs) in the Volta Region have appealed to the National Identification Authority (NIA) to extend its ongoing Ghana Card registration exercise for children in the region.
The NIA on May 5, 2026, began the registration of children between the ages of six and 14 years in schools across the region.
Mr Jerry Yao Ameko, Dean of the MDCEs in the region, made the appeal on behalf of his colleagues at a press conference organised in Ho on Wednesday.
He said many school children were yet to be registered although the exercise was intended to ensure that all children within the target group obtained the Ghana Card.
Mr Ameko, who is also the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Adaklu, noted that operational challenges encountered by the NIA during the exercise made it impossible for the Authority to achieve full coverage before the official closing date.
“Several operational challenges encountered by the Authority made it impossible for every eligible child to be registered,” he stated.
The Dean identified some of the challenges as poor network connectivity, technical difficulties, and adverse weather conditions.
He explained that the 21 days allocated for the exercise in the region was inadequate considering the large number of schools and children to be covered.
Mr Ameko noted that in some districts, registration teams could not cover the majority of schools.
“For instance, in the Adaklu District, out of the 48 schools, less than 40 were covered. So, what happens to the rest of the children?” he asked.
He added that the situation was even more worrying in districts and municipalities with larger school populations, stressing that many communities had not yet been reached.
Mr Ameko said children in such communities would be unfairly treated if the exercise was not extended.
According to him, the registration exercise was of national importance, and no eligible child should be denied the opportunity to register.
“We will be doing a great injustice to our children if the exercise ends without registering these innocent children,” he lamented.
Mr Innocent Dodzi Mornyuie, the Central Tongu DCE, explained that many school children lived in remote communities far from district capitals, making it difficult for them to travel to registration centres.
He reiterated the need for the exercise to be extended “as a matter of national importance” to enable every eligible child to be registered.
Mr Mornyuie further advised the NIA to deploy mobile registration vans to remote communities to ensure that every child was captured in the exercise.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/Audrey Dekalu