Story by Eugene Nyarko Jnr. l Alisa Hotel, Accra l Thursday, May 21, 2026
The Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Wisdom Kwaku Deku, has disclosed that the Authority has registered more than 19.4 million Ghanaians aged 15 years and above and issued over 18.7 million Ghana Cards since the rollout of the national identification programme.
Speaking during the launch of the NIA’s 20th anniversary celebration in Accra, Mr. Deku said the Authority had also enrolled more than 229,000 foreigners under the Foreigners Identity Management System.
The event, held at the Alisa Hotel, was under the theme: “Reflecting on the Past, Securing the Future: 20 Years of the NIA.”
According to the Executive Secretary, the Ghana Card is currently recognised as a travel document within the ECOWAS sub-region and accepted at more than 44,000 airports worldwide.
He explained that through the Identity Verification System platform, the NIA had processed more than 200 million verification requests without any major operational disruption.
Mr. Deku further revealed that 281 institutions had so far been onboarded onto the Identity Verification System, including universal banks, rural banks, government institutions, fintech companies and telecommunication firms, while an additional 228 institutions were in the pipeline.
He said the NIA remained committed to strengthening national integration through an efficient and trusted identification system, adding that government’s 2025 directive placing a moratorium on standalone identity systems in public institutions would help ensure standardisation and interoperability.
The Executive Secretary noted that upon assuming office in January 2025, management with support from technical partners worked to clear a backlog of approximately 640,000 printed cards, which were successfully distributed by September 2025.
He announced that the Authority had expanded its premium service centres from nine to 16 regions and had also extended Ghana Card registration services abroad.
According to him, the NIA currently operates in 11 foreign locations and plans to expand services to six additional countries this year, including Spain, the United Arab Emirates, China, Malaysia, Nicaragua and Nigeria.
Mr. Deku stated that the Authority was in the final stages of implementing several international ISO certifications, including ISO 27001 for information security management, ISO 22301 for business continuity management and ISO 20000-1 for service management.
He said the NIA was also working to strengthen the legal framework governing identity management and warned that failure to update personal information with the Authority within the stipulated period would constitute an offence under existing regulations.
“Identity issues are matters of national security,” he stressed.
Mr. Deku paid tribute to former Executive Secretaries of the Authority, including Professor Ernest Dumor, Professor Kenneth Attafuah, Professor William Ahadzie, Professor Francis Palmdeti and Mr. Selorm Foli Griffiths, for their dedication and leadership over the years.
Touching on child registration, he disclosed that the NIA resumed nationwide registration of children aged between six and 14 years on May 5, 2026, beginning with the Oti Region, and had already registered more than 90,000 children as of May 20, 2026.
He added that processes were underway to resume registration for children between zero and five years by June this year after amendments to the relevant operational framework.
Mr. Deku reaffirmed the Authority’s commitment to providing legal identity for all persons in Ghana in line with Sustainable Development Goal 16.9, which seeks to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030.
“We are not merely issuing identity cards. We are building the digital foundation of a modern Ghana — a Ghana where every person counts and where every person is counted,” he stated.
