The National Identification Authority (NIA), working with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), launches Ghana Card registration for children aged 6 to 14 in the Volta and Oti regions on Tuesday, May 5, and parents have specific documentation requirements to meet before showing up.
NIA Executive Secretary Wisdom Kwaku Deku said the authority is targeting approximately 3.1 million children nationwide, with the Volta and Oti regions serving as the first phase of a staged rollout. Each phase is expected to run for at least 21 days, with extensions granted where necessary to ensure full coverage before the exercise moves to the next region.
Registration teams will visit both public and private schools for nine hours daily. Children who are not in school may report to any participating school or designated centre to be registered.
For documentation, parents or guardians must present the child’s original birth certificate, a current Ghanaian passport, or a Certificate of Acquired Citizenship. Where none of those documents is available, an Oath of Identity form must be completed instead. Children whose parents or family are unknown require two social welfare officers to testify under oath on their behalf.
Parents whose children are enrolled in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) must also bring the child’s NHIS card or membership number. Crucially, the parents or guardians themselves must be Ghanaian citizens and must hold valid Ghana Cards before their child can be registered.
After completing the Volta, Oti, and the five northern regions, the exercise will subsequently move to the southern sector, covering the Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, and Ashanti regions.
The NIA warned that anyone who provides false information or assists in registering a non-Ghanaian risks prosecution, fines, or imprisonment.
The NIA began registering children in 2024 but had to suspend the exercise due to technical problems that prevented the instant issuance of Ghana Cards to enrolled children. Those challenges have since been resolved.
