As Ablakwa gives his attorneys instructions to reply to the lawsuit, the National Cathedral proclaims, "Truth and justice shall not be buried."

 

As Ablakwa gives his attorneys instructions to reply to the lawsuit, the National Cathedral proclaims, "Truth and justice shall not be buried."

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a representative for North Tongu, has claimed that he has given instructions to his attorneys to contest the restraining order issued against him as a result of his disclosure on Rev. Kusi Boateng, Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral.

In a statement released on Friday, February 3, Mr. Ablakwa said, "After my appearance on Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana show this morning, a man supposedly from the courts brought to the Metro TV premises court documents which suggest that one Kwabena Adu Gyamfi, who also goes by the alias Victor Kusi Boateng, has obtained a 10-day restraining order from February 1, 2023, seeking to prevent me from releasing further publications on the Rev.

One Kwabena Adu Gyamfi also claiming to have an alias as Victor Kusi Boateng has secured a 10-day restraining order seeking to stop me from further publications on the Conflict of Interest & Double Identity Scandal.

My lawyers duly instructed

Truth & Justice shall not be buried pic.twitter.com/X4es4sogEL

— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) February 3, 2023

Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng's accusations that the National Identification Authority (NIA) improperly granted a Ghana Card to him were denied on Thursday, February 2.

According to Mr. Ablakwa, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng showed up to the NIA's offices but was given a Ghana Card with the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi and a different birthdate.

Even though Okudzeto Ablakwa also knows Kwabena Adu Gyamfi as Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, the NIA said in a statement that "there is nothing unusual about Kwabena Adu Gyamfi being granted a Ghana Card as such.

The statement continued, "Ablakwa has not produced any proof that there is a person by the name of Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng whose biometrics are in the NIA's database or NIR with which he did his unusual and exhaustive study.

NIA confirms they issued a Ghana Card to Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng with the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi, Mr. Ablakwa said in response to the authority.

NIA confirms they issued a Ghana Card to Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng with the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

Here’s my full reaction: pic.twitter.com/BpmSRueaBq

— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) February 2, 2023

Below is the full statement by the NIA

National Identification Authority

Kwabena Adu Gyamfi receives a Ghana Card from the NIA

The National Identification Authority (NIA) has taken note of accusations made against the NIA by Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Constituency, which were published by GhanaWeb and other media outlets in a post on his Facebook page on January 30, 2023.

Essentially, Hon. Ablakwa claims that the National Identification Authority (NIA) issued a Ghana Card fraudulently to Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, "a popular prophet" and former secretary to the board of trustees of the National Cathedral Secretariat. Boateng allegedly presented himself at the NIA with that identity but was instead given a Ghana Card with the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi and a different date of birth.

Asserting that his "rare and comprehensive analysis of the NIA database" reveals that "the biometrics (fingerprint mapping, facial template, and iris recognition) of Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng matches that of Kwabena Adu Gyamfi," Hon. Ablakwa characterizes this as mysterious.

On the basis of these arguments, Hon. Ablakwa, a member of the Ghanaian Parliament and the Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, "calls into question the credibility of the entire national identification exercise, particularly in light of the recent embarrassing Aisha Huang Affair" (emphasis added). Then, Hon. Ablakwa bemoans the fact that "certain characters are emboldened to entrench their sophisticated conflict of interest machinations by the sloppiness and or complicity of state institutions."

The NIA wishes to respond to the aforementioned accusations, hints, and attacks in the following manner:

1. Alleged Fraudulent and Suspicious Ghana Card Registration and Issuance

In accordance with the information provided by applicants, NIA is required by law to register applicants onto the NIA database, officially known as the National Identity Register (NIR). The National Identity Register (Amendment) Act, 2017 (Act 950), Section 8(1), states that the Authority may require any of the following identity documents from a person applying for an entry to be made in the Register: a. a birth certificate; b. a passport; c. a residence permit; d. a certificate of acquired citizenship; and e. any other information as may be required by the Authority.

All members of the 7th Parliament of Ghana, including Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa, participated in the 2017 amendment of Section 8 of the National Identity Register Act, 2008 (Act 750).

As a result, NIA registration officials are required to register and issue a Ghana Card to an applicant who presents any of the aforementioned documents, unless there is a reasonable basis to suspect fraud on the basis of the record's appearance or information gleaned from the interview process.

NIA follows the law and public policy when conducting its business. Popularity has no bearing on the NIA registration procedure. A person's real name may not always be associated with a popular name. Officials from the NIA register applicants using the names they give them and those found on any of the aforementioned identity documents, such as birth certificates or passports.

Alternatively, as is generally known, a relative or other qualified individuals may vouch for the applicant before a Commissioner for Oaths at the registration premises if they are unable to submit any of the required documents. In that case, the name provided by the applicant and supported by the guarantor(s) will be used by the registration officials as the applicant's name.

Therefore, even though Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa is aware that Kwabena Adu Gyamfi also goes by the name Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, the fact that Kwabena Adu Gyamfi was given a Ghana Card in the first place is not mysterious. Hon. Ablakwa hasn't offered any proof that Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng is a real person with biometrics stored in the NIA database or NIR, which he used to conduct his unique and in-depth analysis.

Contrary to Hon. Ablakwa's claims, the facts listed in the NIR regarding Kwabena Adu Gyamfi's issuance of a Ghana Card are as follows:

a. On January 15, 2020, during the mass registration process, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi visited the Vicandy School NIA registration center in Asuoyeboah, Kumasi, to sign up for the Ghana Card;

b. He presented a valid Ghanaian passport bearing his name, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi, issued by the Passport Office on May 16, 2018, with the expiration date of May 15, 2023, to NIA registration officials;

NIA registration agents properly issued Kwabena Adu Gyamfi with a Ghana Card after registering him using his valid passport as the base identity document;

NIA has found no individuals with the name Victor Kusi Boateng listed in the NIR; and

e. No one born on September 7, 1971, or any other day with the name Victor Kusi Boateng, is listed by the NIA in the NIR.

Since it was impossible for them to have known that Kwabena Adu Gyamfi also reportedly went by the name Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, as Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa claims, the NIA registration officials at the Vicandy School Registration Center did everything right and absolutely nothing wrong in these circumstances. It's possible that a person's well-known name is not their legal or real name; this is rather cliché or commonplace.

2. Attacking the National Identification Exercise's Reputability

The credibility of the entire national ID exercise is questioned by Hon. Ablakwa. We humbly disagree. There is no way Hon. Ablakwa's apparent unwillingness to accept the logic and legal principles underlying the issuance of a Ghana Card to Kwabena Adu Gyamfi can call into question the exercise's validity.

The legitimacy of the entire registration process is unquestionably still in tact. Over 17.3 million Ghanaians and qualified foreigners in Ghana had their biometrics and alpha-numeric data collected as part of a national identification exercise that the NIA has been carrying out since 2017, and over 16 million of them received smart, dual-interface biometric identity cards as a result.

The NIA's 276 District Offices and 16 Regional Offices are still accepting registrations. The register created from "the entire registration exercise" includes biometric information, as well as information on citizenship, date of birth, residential address, and digital address.

The National Identification System (NIS), which was created by NIA and its technical partner, Identity Management Systems II Limited (IMS II), in addition to the comprehensive national identity register, consists of the following components:

a cutting-edge technical back-end system;

b. A reputable platform for data verification used by a number of businesses across the country, including:

c. The 145 Rural Banks and all 25 of Ghana's universal banks

19 institutions for savings and loans, 5 for microcredit and microfinance, and 5 for finance and leasing institutions.

16 Fintechs, or v

vii. Nine state entities, including the Students Loan Trust Fund, the GRA, and the NHIA

Six telcos, or telecommunications companies;

d. Applicants receive a Ghana Card, which is integrated and synchronized with databases from all banks and telcos in the nation as well as those of SSNIT, GRA, and NHIA. The Ghana Card complies with the highest international standards for security and is protected by digital certificates, public key infrastructure, and high-level encryption. It is a contact and contactless smartcard that complies with open standards and the international standards of ICAO and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. It also has a 148k memory chip and secure printing. The card is also one-of-a-kind and uses a biometric verification system that is quick, precise, and not location-based.

More than 7.2 million biometric verifications have taken place so far without a single hiccup. The Ghana Card verification system is also capable of tracking and tracing all transactions and returning precise and current information on each person's status, including voting and banking activities.

The Ghana Card, which serves as the sole source of truth for the verification of individuals, ensures political stability and development as well as economic and social inclusion by serving as the sole source of truth for identity management in Ghana. In order to help with crime detection, investigation, and prosecution, NIA has so far shared crucial data with the Ghana Police Service, EOCO, and the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB).

It is Hon. Ablakwa's right to take any and all steps that are necessary to address the recent conflicts of interest in our dear nation. However, he does not have the right to unjustly criticize and attack the NIS, the National ID exercise, or any other state institution.

3. The Revelation of the Kusi Boateng-Adu Gyamfi Ghana Card

The "latest Kusi Boateng - Adu Gyamfi Ghana card revelation," according to Hon. Ablakwa, strengthens his belief that inquiries into a shady money transfer involving Victor Kusi Boateng and Kwabena Adu Gyamfi in connection with the National Cathedral Project are necessary. That might be true. However, there is nothing ground-breaking in Hon. Ablakwa's post about NIA. Only Kwabena Adu Gyamfi, who was born on December 30, 1969, has his application information provided; Victor Kusi Boateng, whose birthdate is September 7, 1971, is left out. Because there are no records of Victor Kusi Boateng in the NIA database, Hon. Ablakwa does not present any!

Again, Hon. Ablakwa's assertion that "the biometrics... of Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng match that of Kwabena Adu Gyamfi" is revealed by his "rare and comprehensive analysis of the NIA database" reeks of hollow assertion. The assertion is false because there is no biometric record of Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng in the NIA database, making it impossible for Hon. Ablakwa to compare his nonexistent data to that of Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

The assertion that "a rare and comprehensive analysis of the NIA database" was done is nothing more than self-praise; in actuality, it is both unusual and uncanny. There is no empirical evidence of Victor Kusi Boateng's biometrics provided by Hon. Ablakwa, and if there is, it is not derived from the NIA database.

4. Calling on the Ghost of the Aisha Huang Scandal

As far as NIA is concerned, there was nothing embarrassing about its handling of the Aisha Huang affair. On the contrary, there was everything celebratory about NIA’s handling of Aisha Huang’s attempted fraudulent registration for the Ghana Card, in that it was the vigilance of its personnel and the robustness of its technical system that resulted in her exposure.

The NIR does not contain any record of a person named Aisha Huang, a point that was made abundantly clear by the NIA when the “Aisha Huang Story” broke. Raising the spectre of the dead Aisha Huang non-story is both unnecessary and disingenuous. NIA’s verification system functioned as designed to enable NIA to prevent En Huang (the so-called Aisha Huang) from registering under a new name and date of birth for a new Non-Citizen Ghana Card, despite her being in possession of two different Chinese passports. NIA deserves commendation, not condemnation!

In short, the allegations against NIA by Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa are without merit or foundation and must be ignored by Ghanaians. NIA urges Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa respects state institutions doing their best to build the nation. The insinuations and castigations will not change NIA’s resolve to remain focused, rigorous and coherent in fulfilling its statutory mandate.

End.

1st February 2023 \sCORPORATE AFFAIRS DIRECTORATE