Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed that the policy of issuing Ghana Card to newly born babies is ready to take off.
According to him, the Ghana Health Service, National Identification Authority, and Births and Deaths Registry databases have been integrated, making the policy ready to go into effect.
The Vice President, who disclosed this on Saturday, July 22, 2023, said the first such Ghana Card number was issued to a newborn baby on Friday, July 21, 2023, after a successful test run of the system.
“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,” Dr. Bawumia noted, explaining that they will have these numbers from the time they are babies till they pass away.
Officials of the National Identification Authority (NIA) say cards bearing the biometrics and other data will be issued to the children when they are older after their digits and other features are fully formed.
Dr. Bawumia emphasized that the issuance of ID numbers at birth was an integral part of the Government’s ongoing digitalization agenda, designed to prepare the nation to fully partake in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The Ghana Card is increasingly becoming the single source of proof of identity, with the unique number serving several purposes including Social Security, Health Insurance, and Tax Identification number.
