Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has announced that all is set for the historic move to issue national identification numbers, better known as Ghana Card numbers, to newborn babies in Ghana.
This follows the successful integration of the databases of the Births and Deaths Registry, the National Identification Authority and the Ghana Health Service.
Bawumia said the first newborn baby was issued with a number on Friday (21 July 2023) after a successful test run of the system.
“The work of integrating the databases has been completed,” the vice-president said on Saturday. “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, from next month, all babies born in Ghana, once they take them to weigh in, they 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.
“This is very transformational,” Bawumia said, explaining that the children will hold these numbers from the time they are babies until they pass away.
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Officials of the National Identification Authority (NIA) say 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, Bawumia said that the issuing of ID numbers at birth is an integral part of the government’s digitalisation agenda, and is designed to prepare the nation to take part fully in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The Ghana Card is increasingly becoming the single source of proof of identity, its unique number serving multiple purposes, from registration for Social Security, as a National Health Insurance Scheme number and an individual’s tax identification number.
Ghana National College
Hailing the impact Ghana National College has had on the country’s pre-and post-colonial life, Vice-President Bawumia challenged management, staff and students in educational institutions to embrace the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence (AI) to improve teaching, problem-solving and critical thinking, arguing that AI can be deployed meaningfully to bridge the gap between the developed and developing world.
“If we are in agreement that the boys and girls in our schools today are being trained to compete on the global stage, there is every justification for our students to be given exposure to AI.
“The government’s ongoing digitalisation agenda is ample testimony of its appreciation of AI and the commitment to ensure that this country is not left behind. We have focused on pursuing digitalisation as part of our economic strategy because the Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us and we must be part of the modern world …
“Whilst the government will do its part by leading the charting of a pathway to the deployment of meaningful AI in our national life, I expect our educational authorities to devise and deploy innovative teaching strategies that factor in ICT as a key ingredient,” Dr Bawumia added.
Listen to the vice-president in the audio clip attached below:
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