The former president registered for the card on Tuesday, despite the NDC clearly stating that they have boycotted the registration.
Founder of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings, has defied the party and gone ahead to register for the Ghana Card.
The former president registered for the card on Tuesday, despite the NDC clearly stating that they have boycotted the registration.
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The Minority in Parliament have constantly criticized government’s decision to allow the use of only passports and birth certificates for the registration of the Ghana Card.
A statement from the Minority said the National Identification Authority (NIA) has not adequately briefed them about the entire exercise and its cost.
“We remain opposed to the restriction of identification requirements for registration to Passports and Birth Certificates. Our analysis show that this will prevent about 23 million Ghanaians from obtaining the Ghana Card and deprive them of any benefit thereof,” sections of the statement, signed by Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, said.
The statement added that “in view of the foregoing, we are unable to participate in the registration exercise”.
However, despite the NDC’s boycott of the Ghana card registration, founder Rawlings went ahead to register on Tuesday.
The former president was registered by officials of the NIA at his private residence at Ridge, Accra.
Meanwhile, the NDC Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam Goerge, believes Rawlings was “misled” into registering for the Ghana Card.
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According to him, Rawlings may have registered because he did not understand the concerns of the Minority.
“I believe if President Rawlings had asked us as a Minority to explain and expatiate what our challenges are, he would have appreciated our position better and possibly aligned more with us, but unfortunately he did not grant us audience to explain,” Sam George told Accra-based Citi FM.
“President Rawlings did not hear us as a Minority or a party. On the basis of the foregoing, he was led mistakenly to believe that the NIA’S position is tenable. I believe that if President Rawlings seeks or demands audience from the Minority and we go before him with the evidence that we have, he will take a position in the interest of Ghanaians.”