The National Identification Authority has unveiled a new national identification card, with the promise to roll out instant ID cards from Friday, September 15, 2017, after what some will describe as a false start in 2010.
 NIA Executive Director, Professor Ken Agyemang Attefuah at a news briefing in Accra Wednesday, said the Authority is prepared to embark on the exercise with the aim of formalizing Ghana’s economy.
“The National Identification Authority is ready to provide Ghanaians with a modern robust national identification system and a smart ID card that will meet the modern aspirations of the people of Ghana and carry us into the future,†he said.
The new ID card is expected to gradually replace the other forms of national identification documents being accepted in the country.
Any Ghanaian with the new ID card can use it in place of the passport to enter any ECOWAS country.
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The NIA has explained the exercise will start with the security agencies, schools, banks and the population in the Greater Accra Region.
The next stop will be areas in the Central, Western and Brong Ahafo Regions. The rest of the regions will later follow, the NIA has said.
Ghanaians residents living in foreign countries will also be given an opportunity to register for the card at a fee wherever they are.
The new identification system was an outcome of a private public partnership with the Margins Group, tasked to make the new ID cards.
Margins Group CEO, Moses Baiden described the new card as the most secured Identification card with about 14 international security features.
It also has a multi-purpose function, he told the media.
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Another new feature of the card is the passport and ECOWAS logos on it, which allows it to be used in place of a passport across ECOWAS member countries.
Mr. Baiden explained one of the functions of the new card is that apart from it being a national identification card, it will also be linked to one’s bank account to enhance modern payment systems.
The new ID card is expected to have a lifespan of 10 years after which it will be renewable at a fee to be determined by the Authority.
Prof. Ken Attafuah said government is fully committed to sustaining the program this time around.
“Knowing the commitments of government to ensuring the success of this project, I have no doubt that government will put its money where its mouth is to support this national identification systemâ€.
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