Births and Deaths Registry ordered to halt non-registration of local names

The Minister of Local Government, Hajia Alima Mahama has directed the Registrar of Births and Deaths to allow the registration of some Ghanaian names.

The Minister has further advised the Registry to focus its attention to official titles “such as reverend, doctor, Mr., Miss, honourable and so on”.

The Minister gave this directive Tuesday when she appeared before Parliament following a public outcry after the Registry reiterated that names such as Nana, Nii, Naa, Junior, Togbe, Efo would not be registered because they were classified as titles.

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She told Parliament that, “Considering that the SOP serves as an operational guideline for the registration of births and deaths, coupled with the sentiment expressed by the public, the acting Registrar of Births and Deaths Registry has been directed to review the SOP and further directed that names such as Paapa, Nana, Nii, and so on as given by the parents should be accepted for registration."

She also noted that her outfit would soon bring a bill to Parliament on registration of births and deaths.

“The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development will very soon bring a bill to Parliament on registration of births and deaths, which will address some of these controversies, and to reflect and accommodate present trends and societal developments.”