Making the GhanaCard the only legal document as proof of citizen likely to cause harm to my constituents – Kumbungu MP

Member of Parliament for the Kumbungu Constituency, Hamza Adam is worried that making the Ghana Card the sole legal document for proof of citizenship to register SIM cards or to register as an eligible voter for Election 2024 is likely to cause harm to the rights of his constituents to vote.

Hamza Adam explained in an interview with Alfred Ocansey on 3FM Sunrise morning show on Wednesday August 10 he said the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation Ursula Owusu-Ekuful should be concerned with how the people can get their Ghana Card from the National Identification Authority (NIA).

“It is expected of her as the Minister for Communication to communicate well. The ministry should be thinking of how they can get people to acquire the Ghana card rather than issuing deadlines since it is the only source document accepted for the SIM card registration. The minister knows the deadline she has set is not realistic” he stated.

He indicated that getting the Ghana card is a daunting task for many people especially in his constituency. There are about five communities in the Kumbungu Constituency where the registration exercise didn’t get to hence, they have to cross rivers to Kumbungu town in order to get the card.

He further revealed that out of a voter population of about three thousand, only less than a hundred had registered successfully and acquired the NIA Ghana card. According to the MP no registration center was set up at those communities during the NIA mass registration.

Contrary to the assertion by the Executive Director of the NIA that they have established about two hundred registration centers across various districts, Hamza Adam said the case in his district was not like that.

“My problem with the NIA is that it seems they don’t have a strong monitoring team on the grounds,” he said.

In announcing an extension of the deadline for re-registering SIM cards in Ghana, the sector Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful on Sunday, July 31 said a new application will be made available for download within the week to enable many to self-register.

“The SIM Registration App will be available for download on both android and IOS this week barring any unforeseen circumstances,” she told journalists. Each registration via the app will be subject to a 5 cedi surcharge.”

However, the MP for Kumbungu asserts that it is even more ridiculous and unfair for the ministry to charge each registration via the app a 5 cedi surcharge as a result of the National Communication Authority’s own inefficiency.

Meanwhile, The National Identification Authority (NIA) has given indication that not all who are applying for a new card or correcting errors on old ones or even seeking a replacement due to loss or damage will be able to get them sorted out by Friday, September 30.

The NDC has kicked against the EC’s attempt to make the Ghana Card the only proof of citizenship for voting in the 2024 general elections and beyond. In a statement signed by the National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, the party said such a decision will disenfranchise many qualified Ghanaian voters, hence their resistance.

Source: 3news.com|Ghana