Ghana card has failed - Prof Ransford Gyampo explains why
Ghana Card has failed – Prof Ransford Gyampo explains why
A senior lecturer at the University of Ghana Political Science Department Prof. Ransford Gyampo has said the Controller and Accountant General’s insistence on public sector workers having their Ghana Card by December or they forfeit their salaries is an indication that the Ghana Card has failed in getting total public buy-in into the idea of everyone getting the Ghana Card.
According to him, the way to address such failure is not to force and stampede the public into getting the Card at all cost.
Rather, he believes “there should be well-thought through solutions about some of the challenges raised with the source documents for registering for the Cardâ€
He adds that “there should be a revival of the currently collapsed public education about registration for the Card, to socialize the public about the need for it, rather than giving arrogant and authoritative deadlines for acquisition, which would be honored in breach, by the already agitated public servants, who are considering the option of joining forces together to fight for better conditions of service, and bring about a certain disruption that creates a classless society, and ensure social equilibrium interns of salariesâ€.
Government workers are being given about a month-and-a-half to register for the Ghana Card or be denied their salaries.
Effective December 1, workers on the government of Ghana Payroll who have not registered with the NIA will not be paid,†a statement from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department warned.
The Department said it is collaborating with NIA to have a harmonised database “to facilitate biometric and unique identification of all workers on the government payroll.â€
It explained that this directive was “part of Government of Ghana’s efforts to deliver a speedy, secured and verified payroll service to government employees and pensioners while reducing the risk of undeserving payment or claims.â€
Read Gyampo’s Reaction Here
The directive to all public sector workers to get their Ghana Cards by December 1, or forfeit their salaries, is too regimental, robotic, insensitive and a needless flex of non-existent administrative muscle, on the part of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department.
Whiles many Ghanaians are yet to tame the audacity and arrogance of political power exhibited by some, if not all politicians, we are now being threatened by bureaucratic and administrative arrogance, manifesting in utopian deadlines.
Who authorized the Controller and Accountant General to give that ultimatum and who is the Controller and Accountant General to issue such orders to those whose toil, he enjoys? Are we his children? The era, when those who fed on tax payers’ money, treated tax payers like small boys and girls, is gone. Even the President, the Commander in Chief of Ghana’s Armed Forces does not and cannot command public sector workers like this.
The very order, ignores the fact that it takes time for one to procure the Ghana Card. The Ghana Card is not sold at the supermarket. People still have challenges in producing source documents for the identification leading to registration for the Card. Any public official who is ignorant about some of these difficulties, isn’t fit to occupy any position of fiduciary trust.
The idea of having a National Identity Card that captures all our data is a superb idea that must be owned by all. But policy ownership cannot be forced and imposed, else it creates suspicions about governmental intentions behind such policies. Unfortunately, it appears there is some tacit force to compel all Ghanaians to acquire the Ghana Card at all cost. There was an exercise to register all SIM Cards in Ghana. But for whatever reasons, we are all being asked to re-register again, now using the Ghana Card as a proof of identification. Whiles battling this, we are now, the Controller and Accountant-General akatsi want to tie the Card to our pay in a manner that creates all sort of ideas in the minds of people.
Clearly, the National Identification has also failed in getting total public buy-in into the idea of everyone getting the Ghana Card. The way to address such failure, is not to force and stampede the public into getting the Card at all cost. Rather, there should be well-thought through solutions about some of the challenges raised with the source documents for registering for the Card. In addition, there should be a revival of the currently collapsed public education about registration for the Card, to socialize the public about the need for it, rather than giving arrogant and authoritative deadlines for acquisition, which would be honored in breach, by the already agitated public servants, who are considering the option of joining forces together to fight for better conditions of service, and bring about a certain disruption that creates a classless society, and ensure social equilibrium interns of salaries.
Yaw Gyampo
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Suro Nipa House
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Larteh-Akuapim
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