According to the National Identification Authority (NIA), Ghanaians have received more than 15.7 million Ghana Cards.
Prof. Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, the NIA's executive secretary, made this announcement on Thursday, July 21, on Citi FM in Accra.
According to data, 16,969,034 people have registered for the Ghana Card, and about 16,535,623 cards have been manufactured, according to Prof. Attafuah.
Prof. Attafuah stated that out of this total, 15,702,719 cards have been issued and 808,493 cards have been produced but not yet distributed.
But he provided an explanation for why certain registrants were not given cards.
There are those who registered twice. That might be considered a criminal offence. Those are being looked upon on an individual basis. Some people's cards have been adjudicated, not due to multiple registration but rather because they attempted to alter their important information in the authority's care, such as their bio-data.
For these individuals, the system pauses their application and adds it to a queue.
These cards won't be issued, according to the Executive Secretary, unless these problems are resolved.
Such individuals "cannot obtain their cards until the underlying concerns are resolved," he continued.
The NIA recently refuted the claim that certain Ghana Cards had been left at the Sowotuom Office to "rot," as it had been reported on social media.
The Authority noted in a statement that the aforementioned cards—2D-barcode cards—were printed between 2008 and 2014 but were never distributed to Ghanaians.
The abandoned cards, according to NIA, had already been audited and were waiting to be destroyed.
"The cards have been reviewed by the NIA Board of Survey and approved for destruction since they have been inactive for longer than 10 years and cannot be utilised for any legitimate reason.
So date, the NIA has issued more than 15.7 million Ghana Cards.
The cards were removed from storage to make room for them before being destroyed while the NIA Headquarters Building is being renovated. They were packed in "Ghana-Must-Go" bags.
Parts of the statement said, "The cards were covered with a tarpaulin on the NIA Headquarters premises waiting to be destroyed but someone lifted the cover, recorded a video, and disseminated it on social media.