The Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah has insisted that his outfit did no wrong when it refused to call off the Ghana Card registration exercise in the Eastern Region during the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.
According to him, the NIA was very careful to adhere to all COVID-19 safety protocols during the mass registration exercise in the Eastern Region.
NIA came under intense pressure for going ahead with the registration exercise after many believed it breached social distancing rules.
Although the NIA was adamant at the time, the exercise was subsequently called off on 27th March 2020 at a time the country had recorded 132 coronavirus cases.
Professor Attafuah in an interview on Citi TV‘s Face to Face programme on Tuesday maintained that his outfit did the right thing.
“The NIA did the right thing and I insist. I absolutely stand by that. All we did was to comply with the directives of the President.”
“The President also said that, businesses and other workplaces may continue to operate subject to the observance of social distancing and personal hygiene protocols and that’s exactly what the NIA did.”
Professor Attafuah explained that social distancing and other safety measures were enforced at all registration centres at the time.
“When the NIA governing board determined that in light of the President’s ban on social gathering and the directives on how to maintain social distancing and hygiene protocols, the mass registration exercise could continue and we put in measures to ensure there will be effective social distancing and personal hygiene,” the NIA boss said.
We’ll resume Ghana card registration in Eastern Region if we receive clearance
The National Identification Authority will resume the Ghana card registration in the Eastern Region when it receives clearance from its governing board.
Professor Attafuah in an earlier Citi News interview said that the Authority will also conduct a mop-up exercise in the Greater Accra Region for two weeks after the registration exercise in the Eastern Region.
“The management has made recommendations to the governing board. When the governing board directs, we will go back to the Eastern Region and complete the truncated process. When we finish the registration in the Eastern Region, we will come back to Greater Accra and do a mop-up for two weeks. During the period, we shall issue to Ghanaians in Greater Accra, the cards that have not been issued.”