The head of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Professor Kenneth Agyeman Attafuah has said that, the NIA is not an institution that will disregard the safety of Ghanaians just to meet the deadline for a registration procedure.
According to him, he stands to gain nothing if all citizens of Ghana get the NIA card but fall ill.
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Speaking on HappyFM’s ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ to address issues surrounding the NIA and it’s ‘alleged’ disregard to human lives by countinuing with its registration process despite the coronavirus outbreak in Ghana, he said, “Those of us working at the NIA are not monsters, we are humans with loved ones just like you. And it’ll be difficult for us to insist Ghanaians should leave us be and do our own bidding when the entire world is suffering from the coronavirus.”
On his authority what most Ghanaians are thinking is not the truth and he doesn’t constitute the NIA. He stated, “I am not NIA and NIA is not me. I have a governance structure to which I am responsible. Even when the court asks us to still go on with the registration process, it doesn’t mean that whilst COVID-19 is ravaging and everyone is worried, we will insist Ghanaians should come for the registration process. This is common sense.”
He advised Ghanains to stop spreading fake news that caused embarrassment. “We have our individual lives and reputations. We are not monsters but humans with blood flowing through our veins. I have children and I’m as concerned a citizen as you are. I am a human being with blood running through me. I am as concerned as everybody,” he said.
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A High Court in Accra on Monday granted an interim injunction preventing the National Identification Authority (NIA) from going ahead with its registration exercise in the Eastern Region for ten days.
Two Ghanaian nationals had filed an action against the NIA after they alleged that the Authority had breached the orders of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo’s who has given a directive following the outbreak of the COVID -19 pandemic in the country.
By: Joel Sanco