NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION AUTHORITY

22nd May 2019

For immediate release
PRESS RELEASE
NIA REGISTRATION FORMS

It has come to the attention of Management of the National Identification Authority (NIA) that,
prospective applicants at some NIA registration centres are being told that there are no National Identity
Card Application Forms or Oath of Identity Forms at those centres. The result is that prospective applicants
are turned away even though the centres have enough of those forms in stock.

In this regard, NIA wishes to inform the general public as follows:

1. NIA has over 30 million forms in stock and supplies adequate numbers to each Registration Centre
ahead of the exercise each working day;

2. There are enough forms to register every Ghanaian at home and abroad as NIA is by law required
to do;

3. Adequate measures have been instituted to ensure the efficient supply and safe custody of the
Application Forms and Oath of Identity Forms. Any contrary claim by an NIA registration official is
untrue, and may be a pretext to justifying improper conduct such as extortion of monies from
desparate applicants at that registration centre;

4. Claims of shortage of forms at a registration centre can only be artificial or pretextual, and
constitutes misinformation of the public and unfair treatment of prospective applicants. Such
conduct also brings the name of the NIA into disrepute. Accordingly, appropriate disciplinary
action will be taken against NIA officials found to be implicated in such conduct. Members of the
public are respectfully urged to report any instance of extortion, bribery, corruption or other
criminal or improper conduct to the Police;

5. Each Coordinating Registration Officer (CRO) of NIA is trained and instructed to ensure that stock
levels of consumables, including Application Forms and Oath of Identity Forms, are adequate at
the centre before and after registration on a daily basis. When stocks are running low, it is the
duty of the CRO to inform the District Registration Officer (DRO) who then ensures that dwindling
stocks are replenished in a timely manner;
 6. The Mass Registration exercise is the first step the law prescribes to have the national identity
register populated. At the conclusion of the mass registration exercise NIA will set up permanent
Regional and District offices to continue registering Ghanaians.

7. The continuous registration phase is also free of charge to all applicants who will be registering
for the first time.

8. On average, a registration centre can only register a maximum of 120 applicants per day based
on such considerations as number of Mobile Registration Workstations (MRW) at each centre (3),
the population size and the hours of work for each day (8:00am – 5:00pm);

9. The CROs have been instructed to inform prospective applicants about this fact. Therefore,
applicants who are unable to register because of the ceiling will have to come another day; and

10. The NIA wishes to assure the general public that it will register and issue the Ghana Cards to all
Ghanaians either during the mass registration exercise or during the continuous registration
phase, and respectfully entreats every Ghanaian to cooperate with it.

SGND: ACI FRANCIS PALMDETI

HEAD, CORPORATE AFFAIRS, NIA