The constitution of Ghana stipulates the instance where one qualifies to be a citizen of Ghana.
Chapter 6 of the constitution states that “Subject to the provision of this constitution, a person born in or outside Ghana after the coming into force of this constitution shall become a citizen of Ghana at the date of his birth if either of his parents or grandparents is or was a citizen of Ghana.
”This states clearly that a person born in Ghana can lay claims to being a citizen of this country. More so, the birth certificate which is a document to prove citizenship can be used for an exercise such as registration of a Voters Id card.
An undeniable fact is that the birth certificate which is used as one of the documents when registering for a Ghana card but cannot be used for a Voters ID card is a little difficult to comprehend.
However, some say the birth certificate cannot be relied on since most people acquire it without any scrutiny.
History of Birth Certificate in Ghana.
Ghana’s civil registration system has gone through a series of transformations since 1888 and the laws establishing civil registration in the country have also been amended several times.
The first law establishing civil registration in the then Gold Coast was known as the Cemeteries Ordinance of 1888. It was first amended in 1891 and became known as the Birth, Death and Burials Ordinance in 1912 which was once again amended in 1926.
The Birth, Deaths and Burials Ordinance was again replaced with the Registration of Birth and Death Act 301 0f 1965. Currently, Act 301 has been replaced by Act 1027 in 2020 under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
The Birth certificate was created to meet the Identity of Ghanaians but currently, it has been contested as not eligible enough to prove Identity.
CHALLENGES
A Legal Practitioner, John Agbotey believes that the Birth and Death Registry does not scrutinize people enough in the process of acquiring Birth Certificates in Ghana. Since acquiring a birth cert can be tedious others prefer to use middlemen in getting it rather than going to the Birth and Death Registry.
It has been seen as the norm of the day and has been accepted by many. This has created several invalid Birth Certificates in the system. This was the reason why the Electoral Commission refused to accept the Birth Certificate as one of the documents needed to acquire a Voters Id card.
This issue was challenged by one of the leading Political Parties in the country, the National Democratic Congress. The verdict of the Supreme Court declared that a Birth Certificate cannot be used as any form of Identification to establish the identity of the bearer.
In my opinion, the Birth and Death Registry falls short in some instances when one needs a birth certificate. It would be right for the registry to add to its requirement a fingerprint or any other Biometric form to prevent people from using the back door in getting their birth certificate.
This will save the nation from contesting the identity of citizens even though they have birth certificates.
It came to my notice that currently, the registry runs a biometric system but unfortunately the forms of biometrics such as fingerprints are not taken during registration.
The old system of using your baptism card or weighing card or even your old birth certificate is still in use presently. What stops the Registry from using biometrics just like what the National Identification Authority has adopted?
The reason why the Ghana Card has been seen as the most authentic card in the country is because of the Biometrics being taken. One of the advantages of Biometric Verification is because of its uniqueness, every human being has a unique feature, being it fingerprints or face recognition.
This ensures security because wrongdoers can be traced when the need arises.
The Ghana Card is facing huge pressure from the population because the country has only one way of proving citizenship, but this should not be so.
A country of over 30 million cannot have only one body issuing cards to prove citizenship. The problem of the NIA will continue to persist if we do not scrutinize the Birth and Death Registry to be able to issue authentic documents which will not be contested by others. Most European countries view their birth certificate to be credible because it was acquired through the right processes.
Ghana Card over Birth Certificate
The Electoral Commission is proposing making the Ghana Card the only card needed in the upcoming continuous Voters Id registration.
If their aim goes through, I believe most Ghanaians who have turned 18 will not be able to register because of the pressure mounted on the National Identification Authority in registering and issuing the Ghana Card. While if we had a credible birth certificate we will not be talking about not using it to acquire a Voters Id card.