Bawumia to launch Ghana Card number at birth on Thursday

Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia will on Thursday, March 14, 2024, launch the Ghana card number at birth initiative.

The policy, which would be launched at the Ga North Hospital at Ofankor in the Greater Accra Region, would pave the way for every Ghanaian child born in the country to be given a unique identity number.

The Ghana card would, however, be handed over to the child when he or she attains the age of 15 years.
Dubbed “Ghana card number at birth,” the initiative is the brainchild of Dr Bawumia, and it is part of effort by government to ensure every Ghanaian has a Ghana card with a corresponding unique number.

Earlier announcement

In July last year, Dr Bawumia announced that all was set for the historic issuance of National Identification numbers, better known as Ghana Card numbers, to newborn babies in the country.

This followed the successful integration of the databases of the Births and Deaths Registry, the National Identification Authority and the Ghana Health Service.

The Vice-President said the first such Ghana Card number was issued to a newborn baby on Friday, July 21, 2023, after a successful test run of the system.

“The work of integrating the databases has been completed. The full test was done yesterday, and I am happy to say that the first Ghana Card number for a baby was issued yesterday.

“So, in the next month or two, all babies born in Ghana, once they take them to Weigh In, will be issued the Ghana Card number and also get their Birth Certificate Identification number at the same time, because the two databases are talking to each other. The nationality of the parents will be established as part of the process. This is very transformational,” Dr Bawumia noted.

He explained that they would have these numbers from the time they are babies till they pass away.

Officials of the National Identification Authority (NIA) have indicated that cards bearing the biometrics and other data will be issued to the children when they are older after their digits and other features are fully formed.

Speaking in Cape Coast at the 75th Anniversary celebrations of Ghana National College, Dr Bawumia emphasised that the issuance of ID numbers at birth was an integral part of Government’s ongoing digitalization agenda, designed to prepare the nation to fully partake in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The Ghana Card is increasingly becoming the single source of proof of identity, with the unique number serving several purposes, including the Social Security, Health Insurance and Tax Identification number.