Communications Minister, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, says the Interior Ministry and the National Identification Authority (NIA) must endeavour to increase their registration centres and days to enable more Ghanaians to register for the Ghana Card.
This follows the Krachi West MP, Helen Adjoa Ntoso asking for an extension for the Ghana Card registration.
She stated that the Ghana Card registration in her constituency has stalled.
This, she asserts, is because the NIA office in her constituency has been closed for months due to debt to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), and she has called for a quick resolution.
“Ghana Card registration in my constituency has stalled due to the inability of the authority to pay their electricity bill. They haven’t worked for the past five months, no registration is going on because they owe a bill of GH¢5,000 so I will redirect the question to the Interior Minister,” she said.
The Ghana Card has become a crucial public document without which one cannot register his or her SIM Card.
If the proposed Electoral Commission constitutional instrument goes through, citizens cannot register to vote without the Ghana Card.
Responding to questions in Parliament, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful explained that whilst the National Identification Authority (NIA) is not under her Ministry, she continues to urge the Interior Minister to act.
“We will continue to encourage them [Interior Ministry] to increase the number of registrations per day in the country,” she said.
She, however, stated that “the Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation as part of the SIM registration exercise continues to collaborate with the National Identification Authority to enable seamless registration of SIM cards.”
She added that the Ministry of Interior is, however, the supervisory ministry of the NIA and not the Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation and urged for the question of extension of days for Ghana Card registration to be extended to the Interior Ministry.