NIA seeks $115m to finance new national identification cards

• Posted on September 25, 2014September 25, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Over one million cards issued by the National Identification Authority will go waste as the authority plans to replace them with new smart cards expected to have expanded features and information.

According to the Daily Graphic, the authority has negotiated for a $115 million facility from Exim China awaiting cabinet and parliamentary approval to implement this new project.

NIA Cheif Executive, Dr. Josiah Alfred Mills Cobbah

The previous registration exercise which began six years ago, cost the nation over Gh?21 million. Many are yet to receive their cards but with the move, it will be already out of use.

A test run for the new cards is expected to start November this year with authorities promising that the process will be brief and cards issued instantly.

This is because the old data will be ported onto a new system so that applicants would only have to update their data. The authority will also increase fingerprint requirement to ten as it pertains internationally.

The National Identification Authority (NIA) was set up in 2003 under the Office of the President with the mandate to issue national ID cards known as Ghanacards and manage the National Identification System (NIS). This resulted in the passing of the NIA Act, 2006 (Act 707) to give it the necessary legal premises on which to operate.

The NIA which began in 1972 on a pilot basis has taken the nation 42 years and counting to fully get going and done.