IMANI Africa President Franklin Cudjoe suspects some foul play in the National Identification Authority (NIA) failed attempts to begin the registration and instant issuance of the Ghana Card.
“I do not have any proof, but I am tempted to believe that in this whole thing about starting and false starting, there may be some sabotage going on,” he said on The Big Issue.
[contextly_sidebar id=”pG7syRt4U0qSBya2qH1WFYrLVGA39gXC”]Mr. Cudjoe also wondered why the CEO of the NIA, Professor Ken Attafuah, would make definite pronouncements if he wasn’t sure the Authority was ready.
“Attafuah is a cool head. I would be surprised to understand why he announced it as if they are lotto numbers which he dreamt and never came to be and all of a sudden, he says go and stand here and do that.”
The IMANI Boss also vouched for the credibility of the Danish company involved in the process, Identity Management System (IMS).
“In terms of their credibility and their expertise, they are known. in fact, within the sub-region, there is none comparable,” he remarked.
The recent struggles at the NIA bring to mind the opposition to technological reforms in the public sector, Mr Cudjoe suggested further.
“Since 2002, we have been at it, and I worry because it looks as if our politicians believe everybody should be phobic about technology and that is my worry because any time you see reforms being introduced, especially the tech-based reforms, it is dogged with all manner of issues.”
Failure to launch
The Ghana Card registration again failed to launch on Monday despite the NIA’s assurances.
The three arms of government, former heads of state, journalists and security officials were to be the first to be issued cards before registration opened to the general public.
The NIA has apologised to the Presidency and other institutions for its inability to issue the Ghana Card.
According to the NIA, it was unable to start the registration and issuance of the card as announced due to “technical difficulties.”
In a statement, the NIA said it would outline the challenges it faced in due course.
Monday’s failure marked it the fifth time the NIA’s has missed an announced deadline.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citinewsroom.com/Ghana