The Minority side of Parliament[/caption] Member of Parliament for South Dayi Constituency in the Volta Region, Dafeamekpor Rockson-Nelson Etse Kwami has revealed that the minority will rescind its decision to sue the National Identification Authority (NIA). The minority NDC had threatened to take legal action against the NIA after the latter excluded the use of voter ID card as a requirement for acquiring a national identification card referred to as Ghana Card. According to the National Identification Amendment Law 2017 (Act 950), the card can only be acquired by persons with a Ghanaian passport, a birth certificate or having two Ghanaian witnesses. The minority who protested the requirements boycotted the registration of Members of Parliament on Tuesday, and demanded that the Authority appears before Parliament to respond to certain teething problems. But speaking to Bright Akwesi Asempa on Onua FM’s Yen Nsem Pa Morning show on Thursday, Mr. Dafeamekpor stated that there is no need for the minority to file a suit against the NIA any longer. The minority is backing pressure group Strategic Thinkers Network-Africa (STRANEK) who have already filed a writ at the Supreme Court against the NIA for not accepting the Voters’ ID as a proof of one’s nationality to enable him or her register for the Ghana Card. The MP who is also a member of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament said: “Once another institution has done what we were contemplating on doing, we can only support them.” Dafeamekpor claimed the NIA deceived the MPs when it told them that its inability to include other forms of identification – voter’s ID, Baptismal Certificate, Drivers License – as a requirement for the Ghana Card registration was ordered by the Supreme Court. According to him, it was later revealed that the Supreme Court only made the order regarding the National Health Insurance Card and not the Voter ID. “They were not telling us the truth,” he emphasized. By Nana Owusuaa Osei- Kuffour/3news.com/Ghana]]>
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