We Tried Ghana Card In 1973, 1987 But Failed, Akufo-Addo And Bawumia Have Done It – Blay

Executive Secretary to the Vice President, Mr Augustine Blay, has revealed that Ghana attempted to get a national identity card in the form of the Ghana Card in 1973 but failed.

A second attempt was made in 1987 but failed again, he said.

However President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia have been able to do it since coming into office in 2017, he said.

Mr Blay was speaking on the Business Focus on TV3 Monday February 14.

He said that 16million Ghanaians have been given their GhanaCard for easy identification.

“We tried this in 1973 [but] we couldn’t do it, we tried it in 1987 [but] we couldn’t do it. In 2001 when the National Economic Dialogue committee was set up to discuss this the conclusion was that it is imperative that every Ghanaian has a Ghana Card, it was in 2001. Fast forward to 2017, the President H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo comes in, wins elections comes as President and says the Ghana Card is a mandate, Vice President must lead the charge and get it done.

“As we speak now, within four years, what we could not do since 1973 , we have about 16million Ghanaians now with the Ghana card, we know who you are, we have your picture we have your information.”

Regarding the GhanaCard as e-passport, he revealed that passengers have started arriving in Ghana from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK) using the card.

Asked whether anybody with the Ghana Card anywhere in the world can come back to Ghana using the card, Mr Blay said: “They have started coming back, yesterday some came back from Netherlands and from the UK.”

“Ghana is going to high places,” he stressed.