The National Identification Programme begins tomorrow. Speaking to Radio Ghana the Head of the Information Department at the National Identification Authority, Bertha Dzeble said all the one thousand 600 personnel dispatched from Accra have arrived at the various districts in the region to assist the 4,500 personnel trained to carry out the 17 day exercise. She said the necessary logistics required for the exercise have been made available to enhance its success.
Miss Dzeble said Central Region was chosen as a benchmark for others due to its small size and geographical position. According to her the identification exercise will demand the nationality, name, date and place of birth, educational background, marital status as well as other biometric data. Every information will be stored in a computer to help Ghana have an accurate data to be used for future planning. Miss Dzeble said signatures of people will be taken electronically to check fraud and also help to conclusively identify ones identity.
She said a mobile team will be moving to places like the prisons, hospitals and homes of incapacitated citizens to take their records. The programme, Miss Dzeble noted, will bring about the establishment of National Identification Departments at the Districts, Regional and National Levels. Children below six years are to be registered under the Birth and Death Registry because their finger prints are permanently formed at this stage.
Miss Dzeble called on the public to co-operate with the personnel assigned for the exercise in order to achieve the set goals. Anyone who gives false information, she said, will be prosecuted. She called on the public to go to their various registration centres with particulars such as voters’ identification cards, passports, driving license, social security card or National Health Insurance Scheme card to facilitate the exercise. She said the programme will start daily at 8am and close by 5pm. Miss Dzeble appealed to traditional rulers and district assemblies to help provide the personnel with accommodation.
