In a statement signed and issued by the Acting Controller and Accountant-General, Kwasi Kwaning Bosompem on Tuesday, October 12, 2021, all government workers should have gone through the National Identification Authority (NIA) registration process and obtained their Ghana Card by December 1, 2021.
According to Kwasi Kwaning Bosompem if this is not done, the salaries of such government workers will be halted.
The statement said that the NIA or Ghana Card registration process forms part of the government’s “efforts to deliver speedily, secured and verified payroll services to government employees and pensioners while reducing the risk of undeserving payments or claims.”
“The Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) is collaborating with the National Identification Authority (NIA), to have a harmonized database to facilitate biometric and unique identification of all workers in the government payroll.
By this notice, all existing and prospective government workers are to ensure they are registered with the NIA and have obtained their identity numbers.
Please note that effective December 1, 2021, workers on the Government of Ghana payroll who have not registered with the NIA will not be paid,” the statement read further.
Importance of the Ghana Card
From the merger of SSNIT number to the Ghana Card and the transition of Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) to the Ghana Card, the importance of acquiring the Ghana Card cannot be oversimplified.
In 2020, the Executive Secretary of the NIA, Professor Kenneth Attafuah who spoke to an Accra-based radio station indicated that the Ghana Card is a must-have and there were 17 things that one cannot do without a Ghana Card.
“A person cannot apply for or be issued a passport, drivers’ license, open a bank account, purchase an insurance policy, purchase, transfer and register a land, make a transaction that pertains to pension, register for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and engages in activity that has some social security implications,” he said.
A person without the Ghana Card cannot “engage in consumer credit transactions, register for voter ID card, make payment of taxes, register for sim card, or access any government facilities, services, and opportunities that require approvals, permissions, or benefits, as the NIA governing board may determine.
The Ghana Card also serves as a passport valid for travel within the West Africa sub-region. With the Ghana Card you don’t need to hold a paper passport for travel within the region,” he further said.
