The National Identification Authority (NIA) has stated that some seven million, two hundred thousand (7.2 million) biometric verifications have been carried out by various institutions using the Ghana Card without recording a single hitch.
The high verification record, according to the NIA, is as a result of the number of institutions that currently rely on the NIA database to conduct their businesses such as universal and rural banks, savings and loans companies, fintech establishments, state institutions and telecommunication organizations.
The NIA made the disclosure in a statement issued by its communications directorate, responding to credibility claims made by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, over the issuance of “Ghana Card” to Rev Victor Kusi Boateng, who the MP claims, presented himself at NIA premises but was issued a Ghana Card bearing the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi, with a different date of birth.
Integrity of Ghana Card
The NIA insist in their statement that “the credibility of the entire [Ghana Card] registration exercise is solidly intact”.
The “Authority” further emphasized that “with stoic determination and focus, NIA has, since 2017, conducted a national identification exercise that has resulted in the capture of the biometrics and alpha-numeric data of over 17.3 million Ghanaians and qualified foreigners in Ghana, each with a unique identity, and issued smart, dual-interface biometric identity cards to over 16 million of them”.
“In addition to the comprehensive national identity register, NIA and its technical partner, Identity Management Systems II Limited (IMS II), have built a credible and robust National Identification System (NIS) which includes a state-of-the-art back-end (technical) system and a dependable data verification system” the NIA said in their statement.
Institutional support
The comprehensive national identity register according to the NIA “is currently being used by various businesses nationwide including all 25 universal banks in Ghana, all 145 Rural Banks and 19 Savings and Loans institutions”.
The other institutions who use the NIA system are “five micro-finance/micro-credit institutions, five finance and leasing institutions, 16 Fintechs, nine state institutions including SSNIT, GRA, NHIA and Students Loan Trust Fund, six telecommunications companies (telcos)”.
“So far, there have been more than 7.2 million biometric verifications without a single hitch. The Ghana Card verification system also has the capability to track and trace all transactions and return accurate and up-to-date information on the status of each individual, including banking and voting transactions” the NIA statement read.
“As the single truth anchor for the verification of persons, the Ghana Card constitutes a single source of truth in identity management in Ghana, and will ensure political stability and development, as well as economic and social inclusion.
So far, NIA has shared vital data with the Ghana Police Service, EOCO and the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), to assists in crime detection, investigation and prosecution” the statement further indicated.