The policy of issuing Ghana Cards to newborns is ready to go into effect, according to Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
He claimed that for the policy to go into effect, the National Identification Authority (NIA), the Ghana Health Service, and the Births and Deaths Registry databases had been integrated.
The first such Ghana Card number was issued to a newborn baby on Friday, July 21, 2023 following a successful test run of the system, according to the Vice President, who made the disclosure on Saturday, July 22, 2023.
“The work of integrating the databases has been completed, The full test was done yesterday, and i am happy to say that the first Ghana Card number for a baby was issued yesterday.
“So in the next month or two, all babies born in Ghana, once they take them to Weigh In, will be issued the Ghana Card number and also get their Birth Certificate Identification number at the same time, because the two databases are talking to each other. The nationality of the parents will be established as part of the process”.
“This is very transformational,” they will have these numbers from the time they are babies until they pass away, Dr. Bawumia pointed out.
Cards containing the biometrics and other information will be given to the kids when they are older, after their digits and other features are fully developed, according to representatives of the National Identification Authority (NIA).
Dr. Bawumia emphasized that the government’s ongoing digitalization agenda, created to get the country ready to fully participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, included the issuance of ID numbers at birth as a key component.
With its unique number serving as the Social Security, Health Insurance, and Tax Identification numbers, the Ghana Card is increasingly used as the sole form of identification.
