The founder of Perez Chapel International, Bishop Charles Agyinasare, has said the National Identification Authority’s (NIA) resolve to continue with the Ghana card registration despite the President’s ban on social gatherings and calls for social distancing in the wake of the spread of the coronavirus, should not be tolerated.

The NIA insisted on registering the people of the Eastern Region despite several calls on the Authority to stop so as to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

It took the intervention of an Accra High Court presided over by Justice Daniel Mensah, who granted the application for an interlocutory injunction, to stop the NIA from continuing with the registration exercise.

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) was among the many organised groups that said the NIA was putting Ghanaians at risk.

Sharing his thoughts on the President’s call for fasting and prayers against the coronavirus pandemic vis-à-vis the ban on social gatherings and the risk posed by the NIA registration exercise, Bishop Agyinasare told Benjamin Akakpo on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Wednesday, 25 March 2020, that he sides with the GMA’s stance on the matter.

“The Ghana Medical Association has come out loud and clear that it is wrong, that it shouldn’t be tolerated and because of this epidemic, I’ll side with the Ghana Medical Association – it shouldn’t be tolerated.”

Meanwhile, in court on Tuesday, 24 March 2020, Deputy Attorney General Godfred Dame argued that although the President gave directives for the suspension of public gatherings, the NIA’s work falls under the category of businesses that were permitted to continue to operate but with adequate precautionary measures.

“…[Inasmuch] as the President directed that all public gatherings should be suspended, in the same speech Sunday, 15 March 2020, the President expressly preserved the continued operation of businesses and other workplaces subject to the observance of prescribed social distancing between patrons and staff,” he said.