General News of Sunday, 26 February 2023

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

3.5 million Ghana Cards locked up over financial crisis - NIA boss discloses

NIA boss, Professor Ken Attafuah holding a Ghana Card NIA boss, Professor Ken Attafuah holding a Ghana Card

Executive Secretary of National Identification Authority (NIA), Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, has disclosed that about 3.5 million Ghana Cards have been locked up in a bonded warehouse of Identity Management Systems Limited.

He explained that this is due to the Authority's inability to clear its outstanding debts due to financial constraints.

Speaking on Joy FM's NewsFile programme on Saturday, February 25, 2023, Prof. Attafuah noted that his outfit has been faced with financial difficulties from August 2022 to date.

The Executive Secretary of NIA said, “Since about August of last year, we have experienced financial constraints in the system and it created a situation where even though we have 3.5 million stock of cards in a bonded warehouse, we are unable to assess the cards because of financial difficulty.”

Attafuah said about 2.5 million Ghana cards were yet to be printed for Ghanaians.

He, however, assured Ghanaians that all outstanding cards will be printed in six months as government was looking forward to settling their debts by Friday.

Attafuah also pointed out that as of Sunday, February 19, 2023, over 17 million people have been registered for Ghana Card.

ESA/BB