Government workers without Ghana Cards to be denied salaries from December 1

Government workers are being given about a month-and-a-half to register for the Ghana Card or be denied their salaries.

“Effective December 1, workers on the government of Ghana Payroll who have not registered with the NIA will not be paid,” a statement from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department warned.

The Department said it is collaborating with NIA to have a harmonised database “to facilitate biometric and unique identification of all workers on the government payroll.”

It explained that this directive was “part of Government of Ghana’s efforts to deliver a speedy, secured and verified payroll service to government employees and pensioners while reducing the risk of undeserving payment or claims.”

“By this notice, all existing and prospective Government workers are to ensure they are registered with the NIA and obtain their identity numbers,” the statement added.

The Ghana Card is slowly becoming a must-have under the Akufo-Addo administration, which has championed a digitisation agenda.

It is currently required for the registration of SIM cards by mobile phone users.

The National Health Insurance Authority is trying to collaborate with the National Identification Authority to make it possible for all residents in Ghana to use the Ghana Card for healthcare access.

The Ghana card Personal Identification Number also replaced the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) of individuals issued by the Ghana Revenue Authority for tax identification purposes.

This change was in line with the government’s policy on using a unique identifier for all transactions where the identification of an individual is required.

According to the National Identification Authority (NIA), over 15 million Ghanaians have been registered for their Ghana Card, representing 84.3% of the population aged 15 and above.