The National Identification Authority, NIA, is set to deploy more personnel to its district offices across the country to help ease congestion during the festive season.
According to the Authority, this is expected to increase the number of staff at the various centres from four to eight to be able to serve the many Ghanaians who may be interested in acquiring the Ghana Card upon arriving in Ghana.
Some weeks ago, a cross-section of the public complained about the challenge in securing their cards from the various NIA offices.
The Public Relations Officer for the National Identification Authority, Abdul Ganiyu in a Citi News interview outlined measures to address the concerns.
According to him, the Authority is doubling its capacity in its district offices to enable it to contain the demands of Ghanaians.
“We have given some personnel contracts with the intention of increasing the number from every district from four to eight. So in that sense, we are basically going to double our capacity to be able to contain the pressure and that will go on for the next two to three months.”
The NIA recently postponed its services for updating personal records and replacement of lost and damaged cards.
These services were scheduled to start earlier at Regional and District offices nationwide, but the Authority in a statement noted that “many people are yet to pick up their cards.”
“Moreover, as card issuance and continuous registration services are taking place at the said District Offices, there has been a tremendous surge of interest in the citizenry to acquire the Ghana Card driven primarily by the SIM Card registration exercise as the Ghana Card is the requirement.
“To avoid over-crowding at the said offices, which poses a public health risk, NIA has determined it is prudent to postpone the roll-out of any other registration services until it is safe to do so,” the Authority explained.