By Mavis Paintsil, Accra
The National Identification Authority will from tomorrow, November 3, deploy a taskforce nationwide to enforce the ban on photocopying Ghana Cards.
Institutions found still requesting, keeping or using photocopies of the card for identification will be prosecuted and fined up to GH¢24,000.
The Head of Corporate Affairs at the NIA, Williams Ampomah Emmanuel Darlas, disclosed this at a press briefing on Monday at the NIA Head Office in Shiashie, Accra.
He said the grace period granted to institutions elapsed today, November 2, and enforcement starts immediately.
Why the law was changed
According to the Interior Minister, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, the new law – National Identity Register (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (L.I. 2523) – was needed because the old system failed.
The L.I. was signed on March 2, 2026, gazetted on March 27 and came into force on June 9, 2026. Government then gave a three-month transition period from July 27 to November 2, 2026 for institutions to integrate onto the NIA’s Identity Verification Service Platform (IVSP).
The Minister said for years, identity verification in Ghana meant just looking at a card or photocopying it and filing it away. That exposed citizens to serious risk.
“A photocopy can be altered. A scanned image can be misused or reused without the owner’s knowledge. A card can be presented by someone who is not the owner,” he said at the July 22 announcement.
The aim of L.I. 2523 is therefore to:
- Stop identity theft and impersonation
- Stop SIM registration with other people’s identities and mobile money fraud
- Protect personal data of Ghanaians
L.I. 2523 amends the old L.I. 2111 (2012). It makes it an offence for any institution that by law must verify identities to request, retain, reproduce or rely on photocopies, scanned copies or images of the Ghana Card.
Instead, they must do real-time biometric verification – fingerprint or facial verification against the NIA database, or match-on-card using NIA-approved devices.
Mr. Darlas said from tomorrow, “you will see our taskforce on the streets. We will visit institutions and make sure they are complying with L.I. 2523.”
Under the law, institutions face 500 to 2,000 penalty units (GH¢6,000 to GH¢24,000). Individual offenders face 50 to 500 penalty units (GH¢600 to GH¢6,000).
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