The Asokore Mampong District Magistrate Court has sentenced one Usman Emmanuel, a Nigerian citizen to a fine of Three Thousand Ghana cedis after he was found guilty of falsely representing himself as a Ghanaian to acquire a Ghana card.
The suspect, who was in possession of a valid Ghana birth certificate and had gone through the registration processes awaiting his card was handed over to the police after the Regional Registration officer, raised suspicions about his nationality.
According to the National Identification Authority (NIA), in a statement, following investigations, it was established that Usman Emmanuel was not a Ghanaian despite owning a valid Ghanaian birth certificate.
Subsequently, he was arraigned before the Asokore Mampong District Magistrate Court and was charged with the offence of falsely providing information about himself contrary to section 17 (C) of the NIA Act 707 (Act 2006).
He was however found guilty to the charges leveled against him and was “sentenced to a fine of 250 penalty units, equivalents to GH₵3,000.00 or in default 6 months imprisonment.
The National Identification Authority following the incident, served notice that only “foreign national” who is legally resident in Ghana with a valid resident permit can register for the Non-Citizen card.
