The National Identification Authority (NIA) has deferred to tomorrow, the issuance of 3,875,441 Ghana cards to their respective owners across the country.
According to the NIA, the postponement is to allow the authority complete the distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to all centres.
“Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted,” a statement issued yesterday by the NIA Head of Corporate Affairs, Assistant Comptroller of Immigration (ACI) Francis Palmdetti said.
The exercise which was initially slated for yesterday involved the distribution of the cards to applicants at 5,635 registration centres.
According to a statement signed and issued in Accra on Friday June 5 by (ACI) Palmdeti, Head of Corporate Affairs, NIA, would be completed on June 16.
It said the nationwide card issuance would enable 11,062,850 Ghanaians to possess Ghana cards in good time to use it to vouch for their relatives or other Ghanaians who wish to register during the nationwide Mop-Up registration exercise.
The statement noted that the Mop-Up registration exercise would begin on June 18 and conclude in mid-September later this year.
The statement said the Ghana cards would also enable persons in possession of it use it for other mandatory purposes stated in the National Identity Register Regulation, 2012 (LI 2111), including registering as a voter and vouching for others as Ghanaians.
All NIA officials, it said, would be provided with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for use during the exercise in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The statement noted that all registration centres would be equipped with the requisite resources to ensure the strict adherence of all prescribed health and safety protocols.
Additionally, security personnel would be deployed at each registration centre to ensure that crowd control measures including physical distancing and appointment systems were strictly observed, it added.
The statement urged all applicants who would partake in the Ghana Card collection exercise at the various registration centres to wear a face or nose mask and wash their hands before they begin the card collection process.
Source
Ghanaian Times
