Executive Secretary for the National Identification Authority (NIA), Yayra Koku, has noticed that the Authority’s operational inefficiencies over the years has been due to the frequent restructuring the Authority has had to go through.
According to him, in the past, Act 707 did not place NIA under any ministry and left the determination of the ministry to the government of the day.
This, he believes, disrupted the Authority and brought about various operational inefficiencies.
“Again, Act 707 did not place NIA under any Ministry and leaves the determination of the Ministry to the Government of the day. Under past Governments, the Authority has oscillated between the Ministry of State in charge of public services, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry responsible for Monitoring and Evaluation and currently, the Ministry of the Interior.
The frequent restructuring has created operational inefficiencies and disrupted the ability of the Authority to establish stable partnerships with law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Placing NIA permanently under the Ministry of Interior will assist the Authority in establishing the necessary collaboration in the enforcement of its operations,” he said.
In a Facebook post announcing amendments to the NIA Act 707, he explained that this amendment will place the NIA under the Ministry of Interior and will help address various inefficiencies.
“With the new amendment of NIA Act 707, if passed by parliament will place the National Identification Authority permanently under the Ministry responsible for the Interior, grant security agencies access to the database of the Authority and align its operations to that of National Security.”
