Prof. Kenneth Agemang Attafuah, who is in charge of the National Identification Authority (NIA), said that Ghanaian citizens living abroad who want to get a Ghana Card will have to pay some money.
Prof. Attafuah explained to Nana Yaw Kesseh, host of the morning show “Kokrokoo” on Peace FM, that while the card is free within Ghana, it is not free for individuals living outside the country. According to him, citizens of Ghana must spend between $20 and $50 to obtain their cards.
He also said Ghanaians in the West African sub-region would pay the equivalent of 30 dollars, with those in the rest of Africa paying slightly less than those in Euro-American countries.
He said “In Ghana, the provision is free, first and foremost, but the law that Parliament has enacted for our nationals overseas is that those in West Africa will pay the equivalent of 20 United States dollars in any country they are, whether Togo, Niger, Burkina or Liberia and those within the rest of Africa will pay the equivalent of 30 dollars, thus, those at South Africa or Namibia or Kenya. And now those around the world at large will pay 50 United States dollars in the currency of the country they reside, the equivalent”.
On the other hand, he pointed out that a good number of the nationals are looking forward to getting their cards. “People are anxious to get the Ghana Card even while they live in those countries because of the convenience it provides; it helps them to do their transactions without necessarily coming to Ghana.”
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has petitioned Parliament to halt the laying of a proposed Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) which seeks to make the Ghana Card the sole identification document for compiling the new voters’ register.
Source – Tru News Report
