In spite of his organization’s chronic underfunding, The Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Dr. William Ahadzie is confident that the government will soon secure a facility it has been pursuing to enable the NIA resume full operations. Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Monday, he said that this facility would substantially enhance the NIA’s ability to deliver on the targets set for it. He said, the government has thus far been financing the NIA in small increments and the organization has consequently struggled to register and issue cards to all Ghanaians. The NIA has yet to begin registering residents in the Northern, Upper East, and Upper West regions, where Dr. Ahadzie said that operations have been delayed by flooding but should begin by mid October. He, however, admitted that in cases where the NIA is slow to fulfill its duties, a lack of funding is often to blame, adding that the NIA’s operations are too big to be financed through the public budget. To lessen the financial burden, Ahadzie said that the NIA is examining strategies for outsourcing certain services to other agencies like post offices, district assemblies, and sub-metros. Even though the organization has pursued other cost-cutting measures like employing national service personnel, he said that money still became a problem when these workers required allowances and transportation to the remote areas where they would be working. Finally, because of the funding shortage, the Electoral Commission (EC) is currently reaping some of the benefits of the NIA’s investments in training. Ahadzie mentioned that many NIA-trained national service personnel as well as other NIA employees are currently applying their data-related expertise in the EC’s voter registration project, which enjoys greater financial support as the elections draw near.