NIA Records 91,000 Double Registrations

At a media briefing in Bolgatanga Monday, Ms. Dzeble explained that during bio-data taking of registrants, the machines cannot immediately detect double registration but when the data is being migrated onto the main system, such double registrations are detected.

According to her, the names and particulars of the culprits had been given to the Police to enable them investigate and punish them appropriately. She said penalty for double registration attracts 2,500 penalty units and each penalty unity costs Ghc 12.00. It could also attract a jail term.

Ms. Dzeble explained that their preliminary investigations revealed that those who involved themselves in double registration did so with varied reasons. Some she said double-registered because they claimed their initial photos were either not clear or nice, and so, they double-registered. Others also did so because of change of locations.

It was also revealed that about 1000 of illegal persons pretended they were Ghanaians when indeed they were not.

Touching on some challenges confronting the authority included no clear demarcations, houses built across ‘imaginary’ border lines, dealing with satisfactory nationality status challenges, and some Ghanaians aiding and abetting false information.

Ms. Dzeble announced that all is set for the exercise to begin in the Upper East Region after registration officers had been recruited and recruited and trained to execute the exercise. She said there are enough registration forms, registration machines and adequate personnel to execute the exercise.

The region has been put into two zones – Zone One comprises operational zones such as Bolgatanga Municipality, Bongo, Kassena-Nankana, Builsa North, and Builsa South Districts.  Zone Two covers Bawku Municipality, Bawku West, Garu-Tempane, and Talensi-Nabdam Districts.

The Zone One exercise begins on Thursday August 15 to Sunday August 24, 2013 while that of Zone Two begins from Monday September 2 to Wednesday September 11, 2013.

She said there are trained technicians who would be deployed to the various clusters of registration to ensure that registration machines that break down are repaired. Those technicians she said would be given motorbikes to facilitate their work.

The exercise is free and charged and it will take ten days in each zone for the exercise. The people are required to provide, among others names, date of birth, place of birth, district of birth, hometown/district of home town, nationality, educational background, occupation, postal address, house numbers, street name, parents’ information and spouse’s information.

Finger prints of individuals, photograph and signature will be taken. Verification documents such as baptismal cards or certificates, birth certificates, birth weighing cards, voters ID cards, sworn affidavit, immigration permit, dual citizenship certificate, and naturalization certificate.

The National Identification Authority (NIA) was set up in 2003 under the Office of the President with the mandate to issue national ID cards and manage the National Identification System (NIS). This resulted in the passing of the National Identification Authority Act, 2006 (Act 707) to give it the necessary legal premises on which to operate. The National Identity Register Act, 2008 (Act 750) was also passed to give authorization for collection of personal and biometric data and to ensure the protection of privacy and personal information of enrollees.

The National Identification Authority (NIA) is mandated to establish a national data centre and manage a national database, set up a system to collect, process, store, retrieve and disseminate personal data on the population (Ghanaian citizens – both resident and non-resident, and legally and permanently resident foreign nationals), ensure the accuracy, integrity and security of such data, and to issue and promote the use of national identity cards in Ghana. It is also to make data in its custody available to persons or institutions authorized by law to access the data.