The Offinso Circuit Court, presided over by His Lordship Frederick Kwabena Twumasi, has convicted a Nigerian, Justin Jeff Manu for falsely representing himself as a Ghanaian to acquire a Ghana Card.
Mr Manu’s actions are contrary to the law, a statement signed by Dr Abudu Abdul-Ganiyu, Acting Head, Corporate Affairs, National Identification Authority (NIA) and issued to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday, has said.
It said his accomplice, a Ghanaian, Mary Fowaa, had also been convicted.
According to the statement, on Thursday, March 24, 2022, Mary went to the NIA District Office in Offinso
South to vouch for Manu
It said: “According to Mary, Manu is one of the three children she gave birth to whilst living in Nigeria.”
The statement said in the course of the interview, the Assistant Registration Officer at the Offinso South District Office of NIA
noticed some discrepancies in Manu’s answers and suspected he was not a Ghanaian.
“Upon further interrogation at the NIA District Office, Manu admitted that he was not a Ghanaian.
“NIA officials in the District brought this to the attention of the District Police who have investigated and prosecuted the offence,” the statement said.
According to the statement, on Thursday, April 7 2022, Mary and Manu were arraigned before the Offinso Circuit Court and were both convicted to a one-year jail term or 200 penalty units.
The statement commended the CID of the Ghana Police Service in the Offinso South
District in Ashanti Region for the swift and efficient manner the offence was investigated and prosecuted.
It added that NIA continued to reiterate that any foreign national, legally resident in Ghana, and with a valid resident permit could register for the Non-Citizen Card, which was issued at various designated centres across the country, including the NIA Headquarters.
The NIA, however, cautioned that any foreigner who tried to register for the Ghana Card (card meant for citizens only) “shall be arrested and duly prosecuted.”
GNA