Government settles NIA’s GH¢100 million debt

Government settles NIA’s GH¢100 million debt

The National Identification Authority (NIA) will resume printing Ghana cards after settling a GH¢100 million debt owed to its creditors.

Financial constraints had led to the suspension of card printing, resulting in over 3.5 million cards being locked up in a bonded warehouse.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, confirmed during a parliamentary hearing on February 28, 2023, that GH¢20 million had been paid to CalBank following an initial payment of GH¢80 million.

The Executive Director of the NIA, Professor Kenneth Attafuah, reassured MPs that the NIA is prepared to print all outstanding cards and can manage the technology to print more Ghana cards.

The Electoral Commission is proposing a constitutional instrument (CI) to make the Ghana card the sole identification document for voter registration, and the NIA is ready to support the EC by printing more cards if the CI is approved by Parliament.