NIA can print 2 million Ghana cards within 6 months – Attafuah assures

The Executive Director of the National Identification Authority, Professor Kenneth Attafuah has reiterated that his outfit is well-prepared to print two million Ghana cards within six months without organising a mass registration exercise.

The Electoral Commission (EC) is proposing a new constitutional instrument through which it intends to make the Ghana card the sole identification document for voter registration.

The Minority which is rejecting this move by the EC, is also casting doubts on the capacity of the NIA to issue Ghana cards to all applicants who have registered for the cards.

But speaking on the Point of View hosted by Bernard Avle, the NIA boss assured that without pressure on the necks of NIA staff, his team can print two million cards within six months to applicants.

“We can do two million cards easily in six months just operating normally. Last year, when we were not doing any mass registration, when we were not doing anything special, just operating normally, we registered over 1.5 million. So if we put our minds to it, knowing what’s at stake, knowing some of the concerns of Ghanaians, and wanting to serve, this is something we can easily design a model to address”.

He added, “within six months we can meet the expectations of Ghanaians, six months without pressure or massive mobilisation, we are doing our work at our own pace, we can deliver the 2 million cards”.

Professor Attafuah further stressed that his outfit has the capacity to print “500,000 cards in 11 days. The printers are there, and the staff are available”.