
Ghana Card

The Ghana Card is a national identity card that is issued by the Ghanaian authorities to Ghanaian citizens – both resident and non-resident, and legally and permanently resident foreign nationals. It is proof of identity, citizenship and residence of the holder. The current version is in ID1 format and biometric.
History.
In 1973 national identity cards were issued to citizens in the border regions of Ghana including Volta, Northern, Upper East and Upper West, Brong Ahafo, and parts of the Western Region.
The project was discontinued three years later due to problems with logistics and lack of financial support. This was the first time the idea of national identification systems arose. Again, in 1987, the Government of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) through the National Commission for Democracy (NCD), revisited the national identity card concept by establishing committees including a Technical Implementation Committee. Due to economic difficulties, the issue was not pursued. Once again, in 2001, when the National Economic Dialogue was convened, the National Identification System (NIS) was seen as a major policy concern. As a result, a multisectoral Technical Committee consisting of stakeholder organisations was established to do the following:
The Technical Committee completed its assignment in 2002 and submitted a report to the Cabinet. The report was accepted, but it had to form a basis for the government and state to:
By 2003, the National Identification Secretariat was set up to implement and manage the National Identification System (NIS). The Act establishing the National Identification Authority was passed in 2006, with Prof. Ernest Dumor appointed as the Executive Secretary. Under his tenure, the NIA was able to acquire a host of logistical items required for institutional building of the NIA. The authority was able to acquire 1,510 Mobile Registration Workstations for the mass registration exercise that came with chargers and batteries from the NIA's technical partner SAGEM from France.
Pick-up trucks, vans and civilian buses were procured for the mass registration exercise. Drivers were recruited, interviewed and selected. Materials like cartridges, registration forms and writing materials were acquired. Individuals were recruited, trained and selected as Mobile Registration Workstation Operators.
The National Identification Authority's Head Office was built and 97% of the building completed. A pilot mass registration exercise was held to test the forms and equipment deployed for the exercise as well as the registration process as outlined by the Authority. This pilot registration exercise took place in two communities — Abokobi and Sege — in the Greater Accra Region, for 10 days from July 27 to August 4, 2007. The testing selection and training of staff for the Central and Western regions were executed successfully, with mass registration taking off in the Central Region on July 1, 2008. By the end of July 2008, Prof. Kenneth Attafuah was appointed as the Executive Secretary and oversaw the execution of mass registration in the Western, Eastern and Volta Regions between August 2008 and July 2009.
On July 22, 2009, Dr. William Ahadzie began his appointment as the Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA).
National Identification Authority.
The National Identification Authority (NIA) was set up in 2003 under the Office of the President with the mandate to issue national ID cards and manage the National Identification System (NIS). This resulted in the passing of the NIA Act, 2006 (Act 707) to give it the necessary legal premises on which to operate. The National Identity Register Act, 2008 (Act 750) was also passed to give authorisation for collection of personal and biometric data and to ensure the protection of privacy and personal information of enrollees.
The full mandate of the NIA included the establishment of a national data centre so as to manage a national database, as well as to set up a system to collect, process, store, retrieve and disseminate personal data on the population (Ghanaian citizens – both resident and non-resident, and legally and permanently resident foreign nationals), ensure the accuracy, integrity and security of such data, and to issue and promote the use of national identity cards in Ghana.
The Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), the core platform technology for the NIS, enables accurate and prompt fingerprint matching with real-time accessibility when completed. The AFIS claims fingerprint identification accuracy of at least 99.9% and exceptional performance in terms of system processing speed.
The NIA facilitates the integration of all public sector/ civil operation, law enforcement, corporate and business applications/systems to the NIS, and the provision of general identification services. The process of issuing current generation of identity cards started on July 4, 2011. The setting up of the NIS is in response to providing up-to-date data that will facilitate the nation's development agenda.
Card uses.
The Ghana Card, which uniquely identifies the individual based on biometric features, can be used by the individual for the verification and authentication of identity in the following situations:
Appearance.
The Ghana Card (ID Card) is plastic and has the size of a credit card. The front contains the bearer's face the following fields written in English:
Front.
NB: The ID card issued to citizens and non-citizens are the same apart from the national code in the Personal ID number (one reason that should make the Ghana Card usable by the EC). Visible inscriptions on front of the card:
Back.
NB: The Ghana Card contains second and third level security features by the NIA (National Identification Authority):
On the photo a micro-holographic reflecting stamp is placed. The back contains the machine readable zone. The microchip, inside the card contains biometric data such as fingerprints of the holder, the image, signature, etc. The data can be extracted from the chip with wireless RFID technology. The ID card serves as a travel document for national travel. The validity of the card is 10 years and is compulsory for citizens over 16.
Issuing procedure.
The identity card is requested at the districts (and is issued for free to all Ghanaians) where a digital picture of the bearer's face and fingerprints are taken. The card should be picked up in person after 15 days, where the bearer identifies himself/herself with his/her fingerprints.
The National Identification Authority has started an online process to issue Ghana Cards to individuals. This involves submitting the printed document at the NIA office. Barely 24 hours after the online registration took off, the NIA Shut down the registration site because their servers could not handle the number of requests coming in.