-Secret Registration Still Ongoing in Eastern Region
The National Identification Authority (NIA) has beaten a hasty retreat from its adamant insistence to defy President Akufo Addo and continue registering people for National Identification cards, amidst the threat of spreading Covid-19.
Amid a lawsuit and public bashing, the NIA was forced to back down. It issued issue a quick statement announcing the suspension of its controversial registration exercise, particularly in the Eastern Region-known as the political stronghold of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“Pursuant to the service of an application for interlocutory injunction…the Mass Registration Exercise currently underway in the Eastern Region has been suspended effective Saturday, 21stMarch 2020 pending the final determination of the application for interlocutory injunction,” a statement issued by NIA on March 20, 2020, read.
However, Whatsup News has gathered from sources from the Eastern Region that despite the alleged suspension, NIA officials are secretly registering people.
The NIA had sparked widespread public anger after it issued a statement earlier last week, encouraging prospective applicant to converge in at registration centres for their Ghana cards. This is despite the strict directive by the President banning gatherings of more than 25 people to contain the potential spread of the deadly disease.
According to the statement released by the NIA on March 16, 2020, “the authority has determined that mass registration in the Eastern Region is to continue….”
The NIA claims it will be able to manage the situation by following “strict guidelines and protocols” that drawn serious scepticism from critics.
However, pictures and videos circulating shows that the NIA has totally ignored all the safety protocols outlined by the President.
Field officers have been seen using crude cloths to cover their faces in a bid to prevent the viral transmission; the registration centres have also been seen to be devoid of basic hygiene protocols as the NIA distribute hair sanitisers to officers instead of hand sanitisers, coupled with a complete absence of protective gloves for the officers.