Digital MAY 28, 2020

Digital MAY 28, 2020.qxp_Layout 1 5/27/20 7:47 PM Page 6
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DAILY HERITAGE THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2020
Editorial
National Identification Authority must come again
THE DAILY HERITAGE has learnt
with pleasure the stance taken by the
General Secretary of the governing
New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr John
Boadu, and for that matter the party,
that NPP will resist any attempt by the
National Identification Authority (NIA)
to do a mop-up in some selected areas,
referred to as places where the NIA
considers to have had challenges during
the mass registration.
We are happy that this position is not
taken by the National Democratic Congress
(NDC) for anyone to think that
because it is coming from an opposition
party, it should be discounted. We, as
Ghanaians, have the tendency to pass
that comment without thinking of the
repercussion(s).
It is very difficult to understand why
public institutions in this country do
things in haphazard ways and close their
eyes to the shortcomings and hence
make things appear as if they have done
their best.
Everyone in the country can say that
one of the institutions that have failed
Ghanaians is the NIA. About 10 years
ago, there was registration for Ghana
card but only a small number of Ghanaians
had their cards printed for them.
Some people asked questions about
that exercise in the public domain but
the powers that be did not act. The state
lost money but nobody was held to task.
The current exercise started last year
with no improvement. Ghanaians were
treated like orphans who did not have
parents to care for them. Those put in
charge of the registration mistreated
most applicants. Some of the people
put in charge of control of the queues
at certain registration, for instance, took
advantage to push applicants around,
denying some their turn to go through
the process.
Some of the Ghanaians who do not
have the Ghana card abandoned the
idea of having it because they slept at
the registration centres or went there at
dawn to join the queues a number of
times without having their turn.
The NIA officials deployed at some
centres were so arrogant that town folks
wondered what they would do to incur
their displeasure, so for them, especially
those citizens who did not have enough
information as to the importance of the
card, abandoned the idea.
Why should a registration official say,
for instance, at 2 p.m. that she was tired
and so had closed. Therefore, the applicants
should go home and return the
following day.
Professor Ken Attafuah should note,
if he does not know it already, that
some of his field officers did some
Ghanaians a great disservice, so if his
outfit is considering any plan of giving
another opportunity to those who could
not get the card, it should not be mopup
or limited registration; the exercise
should be organised across the country
as if it were a mass registration.
In any case, why do we continue to
stipulate periods for registering for
Ghana card and voter’s ID card? Can
we not adopt a system whereby citizens
could walk into designated offices or
other places to register for those cards,
so that avoidable challenges would not
be encountered?
Nose mask giving us headache
• Dambai residents complain
BY PHILIP ANTOH
philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh
THE PEOPLE of
Dambai in the
newly-created Oti
Region generally
do not wear nose
masks, complaining
that they suffer constant
headache and pains in the ears
once they wear them in the wake
of Covid-19 pandemic.
However, a number of them
say they only wear the mask on
market days because those days
are busy because all manner of
people come to the town.
Those who do well to wear the
mask include drivers, but they
complain of additional problem of
difficulty in breathing.
A seller of 'Asana', popularly
known as 'Ayigbe Malt', at the
Dambai main station, Ms Esther
Denor, told the DAILY HER-
ITAGE any time she wore the
mask, she suffered headache,
hence her resolve not to wear it.
"Apart from the market days
which are busy days, we don't wear
the mask because the virus cannot
operate in less-crowded areas," Ms
Denor stated.
A driver who plies the Dambai-
Kpando road, Blessing Avoke, also
complained of difficulty in breathing
and pains in the year.
A close observation by the
DAILY HERITAGE indicated
that out of every 10 people on the
streets of Dambai or those boarding
vehicles to the adjoining communities,
a maximum of two
persons could be seen wearing the
mask.
A porter at the Dambai office
of the Ghana Private Road and
Transport Union, Seidu Fuseini,
said initially the union was checking
passengers and drivers before
allowing any vehicle to move but
for the past three days, we have relaxed,
hence the non-compliance.
My Fuseini said it was important
for the union to step up its
•Residents of Dambai riding motorbikes without nose masks
checking because the disease is still
spreading.
Meanwhile, the Muncipal Chief
Executive for Krachi East in the
Oti Region, Mr Patrick Gilimah,
has embarked on a campaign to
educate the people on the need to
wear the nose mask as one of the
protocols of fighting the Coronavirus
in Ghana.
He is, therefore, appealing to
the people to adhere to the safety
protocols as the diseases continue
to spread rapidly.