Founding President and CEO of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Franklin Cudjoe, has entered the growing public debate over the international recognition of the Ghana Card, insisting that the project long predates the administration of former Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.
His remarks come amid widespread discussions following the announcement that the Ghana Card has been certified by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as compliant for travel purposes, enabling Ghanaians to use the card as a recognized travel document within the ECOWAS sub-region and to return to Ghana without a traditional passport.
Reacting to claims that Dr. Bawumia should be credited for the success of the Ghana Card initiative, Franklin Cudjoe argued that the foundations of Ghana’s national identification system were laid years before the New Patriotic Party (NPP) came into office in 2017.
In a write-up shared on Facebook, Mr. Cudjoe recounted the long history behind the Ghana Card project and the various administrations, institutions, and private sector actors who played roles in its development.
According to him, discussions around building a credible national identity management system date back to the era of former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
He revealed that technology entrepreneur Herman Chinery-Hesse introduced him to Moses Baiden during the Kufuor administration as the individual behind what he described as one of the best identity management systems for Ghana’s proposed national ID programme.
However, Franklin Cudjoe claimed the Kufuor administration opted to work with foreign contractors instead of supporting the local technology solution developed by Margins Group.
He alleged that the foreign systems eventually failed due to funding and implementation challenges.
He further explained that after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) won the 2008 elections, the national ID process became heavily politicized, creating setbacks for the project.
Mr. Cudjoe stated that IMANI engaged in what he described as a prolonged battle with the National Identification Authority (NIA) during the administration of late President John Evans Atta Mills over concerns regarding the implementation of the registration process.
He recounted that mass registration exercises were conducted in seven regions of the country, excluding the then three northern regions, before authorities reportedly introduced a new biometric technology capable of capturing all five fingerprints instead of the three or four fingers previously used.
According to Franklin Cudjoe, the NIA at the time argued that the earlier biometric data collected from millions of Ghanaians could not form the basis of a reliable national identification database due to the change in technology.
He insisted, however, that local technology experts including Moses Baiden and Herman Chinery-Hesse believed the previously collected data could still have been integrated into a functional and authentic ID system.
“Much happened with our ID cards years before Bawumia became Vice-President,” Franklin Cudjoe stated.
“He promoted the card, but he didn’t initiate it, nor did he invent it. Please, enough already,” he added.
The IMANI President also disclosed that during the first term of former President John Dramani Mahama, he participated in a private sector sounding board at the Danish Embassy alongside renowned educationist Patrick Awuah and governance expert Elizabeth Villars, where initial support was approved to help Margins continue its identity card business.
He noted that when the NPP administration under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia assumed office, the government abandoned the previously collected data and introduced a new biometric registration process based on five-fingerprint capture technology.
Margins Group, he said, later collaborated with the NIA under a new arrangement that led to the nationwide re-registration exercise that eventually produced the current Ghana Card system.
The debate intensified after Ghanaian authorities highlighted recent international recognition of the Ghana Card.
The ICAO certification now allows Ghanaian citizens, including dual nationals, to board flights and return to Ghana using only the Ghana Card as proof of identity.
Dual nationals traveling with the card are also exempted from visa requirements when entering Ghana.
In addition, the card has gained recognition as a valid travel document within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region.
The Ghana Immigration Service had earlier announced that effective March 1, 2022, Ghanaian passengers and dual nationals would be admitted into the country using the Ghana Card.
While supporters of Dr. Bawumia have praised his role in aggressively promoting digitalization and expanding the use of the Ghana Card across multiple sectors, Franklin Cudjoe maintains that the project was the result of years of contributions from several governments, institutions, and private sector innovators rather than the achievement of one individual alone.
By 1960news.com
