Mr Ussif stated that this year, the secretariat had provided enough mechanisms and logistics to speed up the registration process and stated that “personnel who have booked appointments are not supposed to spend more than three hours at the centres, it rather makes the place crowded and some end up not being able to register within the time frame.”

He urged the officers to avoid engaging in activities which would slow the process and subsequently mar the whole exercise, adding that “you have to be here on time and make sure you don’t leave before the time you are supposed to.”

He stated this last Tuesday when he and the Deputy Executive Director in charge of Operations, Mr Kwaku Ohene Gyan, and Deputy Executive Director in charge of General Services, Ms Gifty Oware-Aboagye, paid a working visit to some NSS registration centres in the Greater Accra Region.

The visit which formed part of their nationwide tour was to provide them the opportunity to monitor the activities at the various registration centres and get first-hand information on some of the challenges and ways to rectify them. The team has already toured parts of the Volta Region.

Massive turnout

Mr Ussif stated that the massive turnout for registration had been a yearly challenge and that he was eager to stop such occurrences.

He indicated that this year had been calmer as compared to previous years when there were struggles between the personnel and security officers.

“However, I believe that there is more room for improvement, since it will boost the public confidence and interest in the activities and operations of the scheme,” he stated.

The NSS?Executive Director used the opportunity to implore the service personnel to accept their postings and contribute their quota towards the development of the country.

Situation at the centres

At the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council registration centre, the team observed that many applicants had massed up at the office with some standing in queues, waiting for their turn to go through the process.

Most of them were looking stranded following the delays in the registration process.

The Greater Accra Regional Director of NSS, Ms Anastasia Zanoo, who received the delegation, gave an assurance that they were going to speed up the process to ensure that each person was registered before the deadline.

She said this year’s exercise had seen some improvement and innovation as compared to previous years, stating that the registration process had been fully automated and digitised to ensure an easy registration process.

At the registration centre at the La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly (LaDMA) Annex, it was observed that the atmosphere was very calm and only few personnel were at the centre to go through the process.

A registration officer at the centre, Mr Randy Martey, disclosed that at the initial stage of the exercise, they were hit with technical challenges which slowed down the process, but said they had resolved that challenge and the process was running smoothly.