The National Identification Authority (NIA) has denied claims that it is accepting the Voter ID card as one of the mandatory registration identity documents for the Ghana card.

The denial comes after the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Asiedu Nketia alleged that the Authority was taking Voter ID card as in the Adentan Municipality during the ongoing registration exercise.

“NIA Registration officials have been trained and instructed to strictly comply with this statutory provision. Thus far, NIA Management has no reasonable basis to believe that the law is being contravened by its officials.

“Any acceptance of the Voter ID card as one of the mandatory registration documents and hence eligibility to register for the Ghana Card would constitute a violation of section 3 of Act 950, and any person found to have done so would be made to face the full rigours of the law,” the NIA said in a statement signed by Aci Francis Palmdeti, Head, corporate affairs.

Harmonizing NIA register with other databases

According to the statement, for the purposes of integrating and harmonizing the National Identity Register with the databases of other cognate institutions in the country, the law requires all applicants for registration for the Ghana Card to present all valid ID cards they possess, issued by the following state institutions: Electoral Commission, National Health Insurance Authority, Ghana Revenue Authority, Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority as well as Social Security and National Insurance Trust.

“Electronic copies of these other ID cards are taken and the originals returned to the applicant. The law also requires an applicant who has a Tax Identification Number (TIN) to present to NIA registration officials the document evidencing the TIN; the officials will record the TIN and return the document to the applicant,” the statement clarified.

“It is probable that Mr. Nketiah is confusing the mandatory registration documents with the requirement for applicants to present other ID cards for database integration and harmonization. Under Act 950, the ID cards issued by the EC, NHIA, SSNIT, DVLA, etc, are not registration documents and do NOT establish eligibility to register for the Ghana Card.

“Indeed, an applicant could have these other ID cards and still not be eligible for registration without providing either a birth certificate, a valid passport or a valid certificate of acquired citizenship, or being vouched for in accordance with section 3 of Act 950,” it added.