The Head of Corporate Affairs of the Ghana Identification Authority (NIA), Abudu Abdul-Ganiyu has stated that there are over 1.5 million Ghana Cards that are yet to be claimed by registrants.

According to him, the problem stems from the fact that the cards were transferred to the District levels for distribution.

He explained that the problem persists because most persons who participated in the mass registration exercise and are yet to obtain their cards are hesitant to travel to their districts to claim them.

"One of the challenges has to do with the back log cards because over 1.5 million cards from the mass registration are still in the NIA's custody. Most people are not willing to travel to the district offices to claim them." he stated.

In an exclusive interview with Emefa Adeti on Monday, Mr. Abdul-Ganiyu said that the Authority's quest to decentralise its offices is a good achievement, with 16 regional and 276 district offices already open, however moving the data from the mass registration exercise to the regional and district offices comes at a high cost.

He therefore urged people to resort to these offices for issues concerning the Ghana Card registration and its related matters.

"Having the cards at the regional and district offices is a relief for all, data entry and issuance of cards are now close to the people, but there are still already printed cards in these offices because a lot of  people have come from their districts and going back for the cards has become a big problem," he added.

The National Identification Authority is a Government of Ghana agency mandated to officially provide national identity credential to all those living in Ghana. The authority has the power to do so for both Ghanaians and foreigners.

The 1st phase of the revamped National Identification System (NIS) Project Roll-Out took place on 15th September, 2017 when the National Identification Authority (NIA) conducted a liveness test of the National Identity Card (Ghana Card) issuance process and the registration and instant issuance of the first Ghana Card.

The 2nd Phase of the Roll-Out of the NIS Project, which entailed registration of, and card issuance to, Ghanaians, commenced on Monday 4th June, 2018. Following the shortfalls from the mass registration, the Authority has opened regional and district offices to ease the registration exercise.

Reacting to the opening of the  new offices, the Head of Corporate Affairs stated that it is a good move, adding that every Ghanaian can easily register for the card since it will soon serve as the only identity form for all Ghanaians, and for people who needs readdress of issues from the mass registration such as: card replacement, change of name among others can easily get in-touch with the office.

He, however, cautioned that it's only at the national level that people have to pay specific amount of money for the service but free at all regional and district levels at the moment because such offices are for data entry, change of previous information and new registration, which are all free.