Chief Executive Officer of NIA, Yayra Koku
The Chief Executive Officer of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Yayra Koku, has questioned the legitimacy of the 2022 SIM card registration exercise.
According to him, the fingerprints collected during the exercise were never authenticated against the NIA’s biometric database.
In a post shared on his X page, as cited by GhanaWeb Business, Koku revealed that the fingerprint data were captured and stored within the systems used by telecom operators but were not cross-verified with the NIA’s database.
“They only took a picture of your fingerprints and saved them in whatever system they were using,” Koku stated, emphasising that “captured fingerprints were not used to authenticate identities with any authoritative system.”
This has sparked heated debates on social media regarding the legitimacy of the registration process.
Referencing a letter written by the former Executive Secretary of the NIA under the Akufo-Addo administration, Prof. Kenneth Attafuah, to the Telecoms Chamber in September 2021, Koku confirmed that the biometric data were not matched or authenticated using the NIA’s systems.
Koku stressed the importance of proper biometric authentication in verifying individual identities, explaining that it typically involves fingerprint scanning, facial recognition with liveness checks and iris scans but noted these procedures were evidently absent from the SIM registration process.
“You cannot confirm the identity of an individual without them undergoing biometric authentication,” he said, seeking to clarify the surge of public inquiries directed at him regarding the issue.
The statement raises serious concerns about the effectiveness and purpose of the SIM re-registration campaign which was initially justified as a national security measure to link mobile numbers to verified identities.
With this shocking revelation, stakeholders are calling for transparency and accountability regarding the handling of citizens’ biometric data throughout the exercise.
Read below excerpts of the details on Koku’s X page:
The fingerprints collected during the SIM card registration exercise in 2022 were NEVER used to verify or authenticate SIM card owners against the National Identification Authority (NIA) system. They only took a picture of your fingerprints and saved them in whatever system they…
— Yayra Koku (@YayraKoku) April 11, 2025
SP/MA
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