Not all Ghanaian can get their Ghana cards by 30th September – NIA Boss

The National Identification Authority (NIA) has indicated that the extension of the deadline for the sim Ghana Card registration wouldn’t give enough time for all who are applying for a new card or correcting errors on old ones or even seeking a replacement due to loss or damage will be able to get them sorted out by Friday, September 30.

This was made known by the Executive Secretary of the Authority Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah speaking in an interview on TV3 monitored by Vimnewsghana.com on Monday, August 1, 2022.

The Ghana Card, per new development, has become the primary document for the recent re-registration of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.

The Ghana Card is the single most sought-after document for registration, and pressure is on the NIA to get applicants captured for their cards.

However, Prof Attafuah speaking said the Authority was set up to allow Ghanaians the luxury of time to get their cards.

“NIA was not set up with a specific deadline,” he stressed.

“NIA is an organization set up in perpetuity. What that means is that we are to deliver our mandate pretty much the same like the hospital or a maternity ward that people go there as and when they need to.”

He explained that the law that set up the NIA required it to conduct a mass registration within one year and get Ghanaians who turn 15 years and non-citizens the luxury to register.

“That is the scheme prescribed by law and that is the scheme we are implementing and we are doing so in perpetuity. There is no timeline and the law intends that people will go to the NIA at their leisure and pleasure to go and get registered and those people will be those who were not captured during registration.”

Background of the Extension

Due to the failure of many to get their SIM cards re-registered saw the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, extend the July 31 deadline by two more months. It was the second extension after the first on Thursday, 31.

Mrs . Owusu-Ekuful, while addressing the press on Sunday, said she had to extend the deadline again “reluctantly”.

“Upon consultation with the industry and given the challenges enumerated above, I have very reluctantly decided to grant a final conditional extension.”

Ursula reluctantly extends the deadline for SIM re-registration

She said this latest decision will take the exercise, which started on Friday, October 1, to exactly a year since started.

“The one year will be extended to 30th September to end on the anniversary of its commencement. That will give us one full year of SIM registration.”