The National Identification Authority has recorded 32,756 cases of persons trying to register more than once since the commencement of its nationwide Ghana Card registration exercise on April 29, 2020.

Disclosing this at a press briefing at its headquarters in Accra this morning, the Executive Secretary of the NIA, Professor Kenneth Agyeman Attafuah said “Since the commencement of the mass registration exercise, 32,756 cases of double registration have been recorded. This is a situation where an applicant attempts to register twice at a particular registration centre or at a different registration centre."

He added that this situation has caused the NIA system to put the printing of such cards on hold as the system detects such act as fraudulent.

"When this happens, the applicant’s card will not print because the system holds on to it for reasons of suspected fraud” he added.

He, therefore, urged registered persons whose cards are not yet ready to desist from attempting to register again in the upcoming mop-up exercise which is scheduled to commence on June 18, 2020, in the Upper East and West Regions.

Professor Attafuah also said the applications of some 350 persons have so far been challenged on the grounds of eligibility. He indicated that the challenge process is open to every Ghanaian.

The NIA on April 29, 2019, commenced a nationwide exercise to issue identity cards to all Ghanaians across the country beginning with the Greater Accra Region. Since then, the authority has conducted the mass registration exercise in all 16 regions in the country except in the Eastern Region where the exercise was truncated on March 21, 2020, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Authority has however announced it is resuming the exercise in the Eastern Region on Thursday, June 18, 2020, to Saturday, June 27, 2020, with registration centres expected to open from 7:00 am each day to 5:00 pm, with the exception of statutory public holidays.

The NIA is also commencing a mop-up registration exercise in all 16 regions beginning wit the Upper East and Upper West from Thursday, June 18, 2020, to Friday, July 3, 2020.