By
Deborah Osei-Twum/ Olivia Ayerh/Evans
Quayson, GNA
Takoradi, Jan 27,
GNA – The National Identification Authority (NIA) on Monday started the
registration exercise for the Ghana Card in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis
with minor hitches and complaints.
Many of the centres
the GNA visited, people were worried over delay in the process, inability to
get the card instantly and issues of security.
Meanwhile, the
number of people at the various centres visited were not also encouraging.
The process, which
seemed less cumbersome however left people disappointed that their cards could
not be issued to them right away.
According to Madam
Sarah Effah, a trader who was present at the PWD centre, after completing the
process, the NIA officials said their machine was faulty and that she should
return to the centre in three days for
her card.
The same complaints
were received at the other centres visited.
As of 0600 hours,
people started queuing for the registration process, though the NIA officials
started the process around 0830 hours for most centres visited.
The exercise
involved three phases; verification of documents, presentation of birth
certificate or passport for further documentation and If a person does not have
any of them, relatives with the Ghana card or two non-relatives with the card
served as guarantors.
Other steps involved
filling the forms and taking of photograph, digital signature as well as
thumbprints.
At the Star of the
Sea Catholic Cathedral centre, people complained about the pace at which the queue
moved but officials made it clear that civil servants with valid IDs could
begin the process without joining the queue.
There was also a
language barrier as some of the officials could not communicate in the local
dialect and hence the tendency for misinformation.
Mr Ebenezer Nelson,
an electrician who was there for the registration, when asked about the
security situation said;’police men came around when the officials arrived, but
did not stay for long. We are not safe should there be any misunderstanding we
can be hurt’.
There were no
security personnel at all the centres visited, which is worrying,since public
gatherings required some level of safety, enforcement and compliance to rules.
GNA