Dear Editor,

After nearly two years of waiting for my National Identification Card (Ghana Card), I decided, on Tuesday morning, to pass by the NIA District Office at the Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly, where I was told my card had been dispatched.

Security men at the entrance of the assembly welcomed me with a smile and directed me to the room the NIA staff were accommodated. I entered confidently to grab my card so I could go ahead and register my SIM card that same week.

There was a queue at the entrance with new registrants trying to go through various processes. But I went ahead to speak to an NIA officer and I told her my mission there. I was not made to land before the young skinny lady told me: “our system is down.”

That, definitely, was not the response I was expecting so I probed further and she then gave me a winding explanation that they still needed to capture my finger print in the “system” before they issued the card to me. I asked “when will the system be restored” and the response was “I don’t know.”

I left the premises thinking about the cumbersome nature of the entire NIA registration and why it would certainly not be the fault of citizens if they are unable to register their SIM cards by the supposed March 31 deadline.

I thought issuance of card should be done without any “system” challenges after my previous follow-ups led to different excuses as to why the card could not be printed the same month I did the registration.

I went to a local NIA registration centre in August 2020 and here I am in March 2022, still chasing my card due to a “system” challenge. I know I would get it eventually but I must say the back and forth are needless, to say the least.

Prince Opoku-Gyamerah,

Teshie-First Junction,

Accra.