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14 issues and questions that crumble the National Identification Authority's planned $115m loan for another card registration 1.Concerning the National ID system, all along, we were informed that the Authority was facing financial challenges and hence were unable to distribute the cards or continue the three northern regions. Indeed they have said they owed the people who did the recent work in the Regions. Now what do we hear? 2. All along what the NIA has been saying is they need money to give out the cards, money to pay their staff, money to complete the system in the three northern regions. If they have money, these are what they need to do. 3. What is happening to the millions of cards in the possessions of the NIA that were never distributed? Have they tested to find out the facility does not work? 4. The NIA promised to re-register 750,000 foreigners they know have passports in the country. They managed only 50,000. What happened to the rest of the foreigners who are easily identifiable? How much money did the NIA and its so called PPP partner, IMS waste on this exercise. It was even sad that the Customs and Immigration Authorities that were helping in this mournful exercise could not even help register known foreigners with valid passports. 5. Globally, there are some national IDs that still use limited number of fingers, the thumb. Ours is for eight fingers which we HAVE NEVER used, and we say it is not good? 6. The NIA is talking about Iris Recognition. When did countries start using Iris Recognition? It started in Dubai in 2008. Next time, when another system is developed, do they throw everything away and register again because a new way of biometric registration has been discovered? 7. They say the technology has changed and they have to update the system. Technology changes everyday. Are they going to change the system every year, as technology changes? 8. If the contact information was not captured in the past registration, can't this can be done with time?. 9. The Government has spent a huge amount of money to do this. President Kufuor�s government sunk $30 million earlier in 2006, and there has been annual Government subvention since 2007 through 2011. I estimate some $60 million, not the GHc20 million people are quoting. We must dig deeper. 10. Listening to Dr. Josiah Cobbah on how the NIA is going to recoup the money, he said the �PPP is going to cost the tax-payer zero�. Is it not the Government that is going to guarantee the China EXIM bank loan, and ultimately settle the bill? Dr. Cobbah should give us the breakdown of the $115 million loan and how it would be applied. 11. Why can�t we charge GHc20 for everyone who collects his card? In the United States, when you register for the Social Security, you pay $10. If you don�t have the money, you apply instantly and it is given to you free. Why do we distribute cards free to several millions of people who can afford? 12. All along what they have been saying is they need money to give out the cards, money to pay their staff, money to complete the system in the three northern regions. If they have money, these are what they need to do. 13. We have used VOTER ID cards that are not machine-readable for more than 10 years until we added biometric verification. Having ID cards with 8 fingers is a remarkable improvement that we must start using and allow it to work, before we think of changing it. 14. All over the world, if technology comes up, they are systematically rolled over with time, they must not throw the baby away with the bath water. If it's not broken, they shouldn�t fix it.