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Two committees of Parliament have commended Margins ID Group and its subsidiary, Intelligent Card Production System (ICPS), a Ghanaian-owned security printing company, for committing the needed investment into printing the Ghana card for the National Identification Authority (NIA).
Members of the Subsidiary Legislation and Defence and Interior committees said the acquisition of a state-of-the-art security printing factory had enhanced the NIA’s capacity to provide Ghanaians and foreigners with the Ghana cards.
That, they believed, was helping Ghana to have a strong database that could be relied on to bolster Ghana’s digitalisation agenda, promote fiscal stability and tax compliance by individuals and businesses.
The committee, led by the chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Dr Dominic Ayine, and the Vice-Chairperson of the Defence and Interior Committee, Ophelia Mensah Hayford who is also Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation designate, made the commendation when they toured the factory at Spintex in Accra last Tuesday.
They were there to learn at firsthand, the operations and challenges facing the company which commenced operations in 1990.
They were later taken round the various sections of the factory where the MPs were exposed to real-time production of the Ghana card and other security documents and labels of various public institutions such as the Ministry of Education, Bank of Ghana, Ghana Police Service, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Passport Office, Social Security and National Trust Authority, National Communication Authority, Ghana Statistical Service and other multinational companies.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic after the tour of the company, Dr Ayine, who is also the national Democrate Congress MP for Bolgatanga East, expressed delight that members of the two committees had been exposed to the multifunctional character of the Ghana card.
He said aside from the Ghana card being used for voters registration, it could also be used to promote fiscal stability, improve tax compliance and secure Ghana’s immigration system.
He, however, called for more public education to be undertaken on the diverse application of the Ghana card to allow Ghanaians to appreciate its importance to national development.
Briefing the committee members on the operations of the company, the Chief Executive Officer of Margins Group, Moses K. Baiden, expressed worry that Ghana currently had a weak database, hence efforts must be made to clean it up and put in place “a credible database” that could be relied on for national development.
