Ghana Card: No need to rush with it – Josphine Oppong-Yeboah
Media personality and human rights activist, Josephine Oppong-Yeboah, has admonished state institutions not to rush in making the Ghana Card the only acceptable identification card in Ghana.
She is of the view that if systems are not put in place to ensure that all Ghanaian citizens have obtained their Ghana Cards, any attempt to make the Ghana Card the only acceptable identification to transact business in the country will deny many citizens access to certain basic social services, including their rights as citizens.
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She said even though a number of Ghanaians have acquired the Ghana Card, many are yet to get theirs due to the delays in the issuance of the cards.
Ms Oppong-Yeboah in an interview with Graphic Online on Monday, August 8, 2022, said it is worrying that apart from the Ghana Card, all other cards which the country have spent money on are no more useful to transact any business with.
"You suffer to get voters identification card and now we are told that without the Ghana Card, you cannot even open a bank account," she bemoaned the situation, adding "If all other national identification cards are no longer useful, why do continue to waste resources on them?"
Ms Oppong-Yeboah said it was about time duty bearers critically examined programmes before they are rolled out in order not to bring any untold hardships on the very people whose interest they serve.
“Many people have not been able to even register their SIM cards all because they don’t have Ghana Cards and it’s not easy for people to get the Ghana Cards,” she observed, adding “Why can’t we make the system easier for people to get the Ghana card?”
She expressed the concern that authorities, particularly that of the National Identification Authority (NIA) needs to look into some of the allegations some registrants have made against some staff of the authority with regard to the registration process.
“Some people have complained of having to pay monies to the registration officials in order to get their cards done for them. We need to investigate all these allegations because if they are only attending to those who claimed to have paid monies, what happens to those who don’t pay,” Ms Oppong-Yeboah quizzed.
She added, “We should not allow only a few selfish individuals to frustrate national efforts. Every Ghanaian citizens must be treated equally and fairly. If some
NIA officials are deliberately frustrating the process so that those who are affected by the system will pay the bribes, let us fish them out and punish them.”
