The National Identification Authority (NIA), in partnership with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), has registered approximately 32,000 children in the Volta and Oti Regions since commencing the first phase of a nationwide Ghana Card exercise for children aged 6 to 14 on May 5, 2026, with a regional target of 63,000 and a national goal of 3.1 million.
The initiative forms part of a broader nationwide effort aimed at registering an estimated 3.1 million children, with the objective of enhancing inclusion and strengthening Ghana’s national identity system from an early age. The Volta and Oti Regions serve as the starting point for a phased nationwide rollout, with each phase expected to last no fewer than 21 days to ensure thorough coverage.
“Past experiences have taught us to print and issue the cards instantly to avoid such challenges,” said Williams Ampomah Emmanuel Darlas, Director of Corporate Affairs at the NIA, explaining that earlier exercises left many cards uncollected due to relocation, school transfers and long distances to NIA district offices.
Darlas said the NIA had already successfully completed mass registration of persons aged 15 and above across the country, capturing close to 20 million Ghanaians against an initial target of 19 million, and that the children’s exercise now represents the next frontier in building a comprehensive national database.
The healthcare dimension of the exercise was made explicit at a monitoring visit to St Cecilia Roman Catholic Basic School in Ho. Darlas told parents and guardians that in future, a Ghana Card would be sufficient identification for receiving hospital services, encouraging full participation.
Children can be registered using a valid birth certificate or passport. Parents or guardians without those documents may vouch for the child. The NIA has also introduced a system linking each child’s record to the parent or guardian who vouched for them, enabling future identity tracing. The exercise is free of charge and runs daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Registration teams move from school to school, covering both public and private institutions. Children within the eligible age group who are not enrolled in school may register at designated community centres.
Children who registered during a 2024 pilot phase but have not yet collected their cards have been advised to visit the district offices where they were initially registered. The NIA warned that providing false information or facilitating the registration of non-Ghanaian nationals constitutes a criminal offence under Ghanaian law.
