The Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Yayra Koku, has declared that it is now unlawful to photocopy or visually inspect the Ghana Card for transactional purposes, following the enforcement of an amendment to the National Identity Register Regulations.
According to him, “biometric verification is now MANDATORY,” marking a decisive departure from the long‑standing reliance on physical inspection or photocopies of the national identity card.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Mr. Koku cautioned that organisations which disregard the new directive commit an offence and will face severe penalties under the law.
“An organisation that contravenes this order commits an offence and faces a fine of at least 500 penalty units and up to 2,000 units on summary conviction,” he wrote, adding that “individual penalty units range from 50 to 500.”
Mr. Koku explained that the new legal framework stems from “the maturity of the LI 2111 amendment, which was introduced in Parliament three months ago and gazetted today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.”
He further revealed that “the Honourable Minister in charge of the National Identification Authority will address the public in the coming days about the steps being taken to enforce this amendment.”
In the interim, the NIA boss urged institutions requiring identity verification services to begin integrating with the Authority’s verification system.
“You can apply to be onboarded onto the NIA Identity Verification Platform by sending an email to idverification@nia.gov.gh,” he said, stressing that biometric verification is now the legally mandated method for authenticating Ghana Card holders during transactions.
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