Ghana Card: 14,888 registered at Adentan in a week
Despite the initial teething challenges that confronted the mass registration in the Adentan Municipality, the National Identification Authority (NIA) has been able to register 14,888 people and issued them with instant National Identification Card.
This was achieved in the first week of the exercise which lasted for six days.
The registration is done from Monday to Saturday and the staff reston Sundays.
The second week of the exercise began yesterday and the Authority is hopeful that it can double or triple the figure attained in the first week.
The Finder yesterday went round various registration centres to ascertain the progress of the registration exercise.
Adentan Police Station registration centre
The Adentan Police Station registration centre has, so far, been able to register 649 Ghanaians.
Out of the number registered, 500 have received their cards while the already registered 149 people are yet to be issued their cards due to challenges with the system.
The turn-out for the weekend was encouraging as the centre registered about 150 last Saturday.
On a normal day, the centre registers about 100 people if there are no challenges with the system.
Challenges
Registrants without the Digital Addressing Code have been unable to register despite the lawsuit filed against NIA by a private legal practitioner, Francis Kojo Kwarteng Arthur.
However, those without the Digital Address are allowed to use a neighbour’s Digital Property Addressing Code.
Required documents
The primary documents required for registration are birth certificate and a valid passport.
Ghanaians without these primary documents are vouched for by a relative or neighbour.
About 100 Ghanaians without the primary documents have been vouched for at the center.
Commissioners of Oath
The Adentan Police Station registration centre has three Commissioners of Oath who have administered over 100 people under oath.
Children registered
People 15 years and above are allowed to register, however, because these children are of school going age, no registration has been recorded so far.
Registration opens for children, who are 14 years and below,in January 2019.
ADMA Office registration centre one
The Adentan Municipal Assembly 1 registration centre has registered about 200 people so far.
The turnout for the weekend at this centre was quite encouraging as the centre registered 70 people on Saturday.
Challenge
The Digital Addressing Code was a challenge as most people came to the centre without having it.
However, the centre has a Ghana Post Service official who assists Ghanaians without the code to generate one.
At the time of our visit, the centre was inactive because the system was down.
Only children 15 years and above are allowed to register.
ADMA Office registration centre two
The Adentan Municipal Assembly 2 registration centre has, so far, registered about 200 Ghanaians with over 50 people registered over the weekend.
The centre registers 100 people on a normal day in the absence of any challenge.
ADMA Office registration centre three
The supervisors at the centre three and London city registration centre declined to talk to The Finder because they said they have not been permitted to talk to the media.
At the time of our visit to ADMA registration centre three, work was ongoing whereas at London City, work had halted because the system was down.
113,973 Population of Adentan Municipal Area
The Population of Adentan Municipal Area for 2015 is pegged at 113,973 (based on the 2010 Population and Housing Census and at a growth rate of 2.6 per cent).
Out of this figure, 57,786 are males and 56,187 are females
NIA is required to use the polling stations previously used by the Electoral Commission (EC) for the general elections to the extent possible and as far as practicable.
However, because of instant issuance, it is not every polling station previously used by the EC that the NIA will use.
The NIA has, therefore, mapped Greater-Accra and scouted areas and positioned the registration centres at places with internet connectivity, to make instant card issuance possible.
147 polling stations mapped into 50
Adentan has 147 polling stations but the NIA has mapped them into 50 to undertake the exercise.
Source: The Finder Newspaper