Under-staffing and lack of office accommodation are impeding the registration and issuance of identification cards, Ms. Mercy Yeboah Ahen, the Techiman South Municipal Registration Officer of the National Identification Authority (NIA) has said.
She explained her office still had more than 17,026 cards for collection, saying it had only been able to distribute only 2,275 of the cards because of lack of staff to validate applicants.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Techiman in the Bono East Region, Ms. Ahen said 253 new applicants had registered for the cards.
She said the NIA was currently working from the Techiman Municipal Assembly Hall, which was not conducive and appealed for a permanent office.
Ms. Ahen commended the Techiman Traditional Council and the Bono East Regional Coordinating Council for their support, and advised applicants to be patient, saying everybody would get his or her identification card.
Meanwhile, scores of applicants and potential ones had crowded the office when the GNA visited the hall on Friday.
Many of them complained about the slow pace of the registration and issuance of the cards, and called on the NIA to facilitate the processes.
Most of them were wearing nose masks, however they were not observing social distancing, a situation which could trigger the spread of the COVID-19.
