Addressing The Issue of Unique Identity

A major problem that we had as a country was the absence of a unique identity for citizens and residents. With oversight from my office, the National Identification Authority moved quickly with the issuance of biometric national ID cards (The Ghanacard) to the population. The Ghanacard project was initiated by President Kufuor. So far, some 17 million people have been enrolled on the Ghanacard by the NIA. Between 2007 and 2016, only 900,000 cards were issued! With the Ghanacard, the identity of people (even dead people) can be established using their fingerprints. With the Ghanacard, every Ghanaian, regardless of location or status, whether rich or poor, now can be officially registered and recognized as a Ghanaian. Before this, it was possible for someone to be born, live and die in Ghana without ever being registered.

Identity fraud, age cheating, football age, people cheating on their retirement age, fake birth certificates and fake passports, etc. will no longer be possible with the Ghanacard. Today, because your bank account or SIM card is linked with your Ghanacard, people cannot borrow money from a bank and disappear and appear with a new name as used to happen leading to higher interest rates. The Ghanacard can also be used to travel from abroad into Ghana across 44,000 airports in the world. The Ghanacard is the major element in many of the digitalization initiatives to follow. That is why its successful implementation has been so important to me.