The NIA chief’s nephew, an NIA officer, was found guilty of corruption.
Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, Chief Executive Officer of the National Identification Authority (NIA), the organization spearheading Ghana’s digitalization agenda, has taken a bold stand against corruption within its ranks. On Sunday, 26th November 2023, the CEO dispatched a team of Police Investigators to Walewale in the North-East Region to probe allegations of criminality involving his own nephew, Mr. George Kwame Essien, an Assistant Technical Enrollment Officer at the NIA’s Walewale office.
The accusations against Mr. Essien included bribe-taking, registration of an ineligible foreigner, and forging the signatures of his colleagues. The CEO, who is also George Essien’s uncle, revealed that he was appalled by the misconduct that undermined the integrity of the National Identification System (NIS) Project. Despite pleas for intervention and forgiveness from Essien, the CEO emphasized the importance of accountability and stated that the law must not forgive those who deliberately work to undermine the state.
Following Essien’s arrest, he was formally charged with offenses ranging from abetment of crime to forgery and causing unauthorized interference with electronic records. Yesterday, 29th November 2023, George Essien pleaded guilty to all counts before the Tamale District Court II. The court handed down a verdict of seven months’ imprisonment on one count and six months each on the remaining three counts, with all sentences to run concurrently.
“I urge all employees of NIA and the general public to uphold integrity, patriotism, nationalism and lawfulness as the pillars on which we can build a clean, trusted and trustworthy society. We must bequeath to the next generation of Ghanaians a society that is cleaner because it has an NIS that constitutes a single source of truth in identity management and verification. Breaches of NIA’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) will not be tolerated no matter who engages in it”. – He mentioned in a facebook post.
The CEO’s unwavering commitment to upholding the rule of law sends a strong message to both NIA employees and the general public. The post highlights ongoing investigations into corruption, registration offenses, and breaches of standard operating procedures within the NIA, ensuring that justice will be served swiftly and severely. The CEO urges all NIA employees and the public to prioritize integrity, patriotism, and lawfulness to build a cleaner, trusted society centered around the National Identification System as a single source of truth in identity management and verification. Despite the crackdown on misconduct, the NIA continues to honor and celebrate employees who stand against criminality, impunity, and lawlessness in Ghana.