Issuance of National ID cards begins January – Bawumia

Vice-President, Dr Muhamudu Bawumia has reiterated government’s commitment to introducing the National ID system to formalize country’s economy. He observed the country’s economy has largely been informal over the past 60 years, a situation he said excludes a chunk of the population from planning and taxation. Speaking at the opening of the 2017 regional ministers conference in Kumasi Friday, Dr. Bawumia indicated that systems don’t work when the economy is largely informal. “Tax revenue are much lower, you can’t identify people, where people live and addresses for people”, he noted. “The economy is largely informal when most of the population does not even have access to bank account… This is why Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has begun the process of reversing, because you can’t include everybody if you can’t identify them and this is why we are going to issue the national ID card, “he said. Dr Bawumia noted processes are far advanced to begin the issuance of the national ID cards from January 2018. He said, “the National Identification Authority is going to move from region to region and make sure every Ghanaian is registered”. Dr Bawumia called on the regional ministers, MMDCEs to play their roles effectively in ensuring that the national ID card registration process is well executed. He said it is a major step that the NPP government is taking in the formalization of the country. “We’ve been trying to do it in various ways in 60 years but in 2018 it will be done for as to move to different problem, “he said. By Kwadwo Antwi Boasiako|Akoma FM|editors.3news.com|Ghana