By Jones Anlimah
The Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Wisdom Kwaku Deku, has undertaken an inspection tour of registration centres in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region to assess the ongoing Ghana Card registration exercise for children aged six to 14 years.
The visit forms part of efforts by the Authority to monitor the progress of the nationwide registration exercise which began on May 5, 2026, starting with the Volta and Oti Regions.
Speaking during the tour, Mr. Deku said the registration drive is in line with government’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the target of ensuring legal identity for all by 2030.
“The Act establishing the NIA makes it mandatory for us to register children aged zero and above,” he explained. “As part of the SDG goals in 2030, it says legal identity for all, including birth registration.”
According to him, the Authority initially began mass registration for persons aged 15 years and above in 2018 before extending the exercise to children between six and 14 years in October 2024.
Mr. Deku disclosed that although the exercise encountered some technical challenges at the initial stages, significant progress has been made.
“So far, over 32,000 children have been registered and issued with their cards,” he stated. “We estimated about 63,000 registrations, and now we are picking up to register about 9,000 in a day.”
He noted that the Ghana Card remains a critical national identification tool, serving multiple functions including health insurance, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), and Tax Identification Number (TIN) registration.
“A child who is being registered here automatically has a SSNIT number, a TIN number and a National Health Insurance number,” he said. “That child does not need to go and register for health insurance again.”
The NIA Executive Secretary also expressed concern over the absence of birth certificates for many children turning up for registration.
“One of the major things that I’ve seen around is the lack of birth certificates,” he observed. “It should be a lesson to all of us that when a child is born, we do an instant birth certificate for the child.”
He announced that plans are underway to begin registration for children between zero and five years from next month in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and the Births and Deaths Registry.
Mr. Deku assured the public that the Authority would continue to ensure fairness and non-discrimination during the registration process.
“A Ghanaian is not determined by your colour or the language you speak,” he emphasized. “A citizen is a matter of law.”
The NIA says the exercise will continue across the country after completion of the Volta and Oti phases, with district and regional offices expected to offer continuous child registration services thereafter.
The registration was generally going on smoothly in all centers visited within the municipality.
