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Minority questions Data Capture Bill
Accra, Nov. 20, Ghanadot/GNA - The Minority in Parliament on
Tuesday registered its disapproval of certain portions on
the Data Capture (Registration, Protection of Personal
Information and Privacy) Bill, saying it could create a
parallel body that would be registering persons for purposes
such as elections and citizenship issues.
This was when, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, Minister for Presidential
Affairs, moved the motion for the second reading of the Bill
in Parliament.
The establishment of a National Identification Authority
(NIA) aims at providing for a scheme of registration for the
issuance of national ID cards as informed by the directive
principles of state policy.
The object of the Bill is to establish a national identity
register by creating a central database of individuals
uniquely linked to a proven biometric identifier and
automated fingerprint identification mechanism, for a scheme
of registration of individuals for the issuance of national
identity cards, protection of the personal information of
the individual collected by the Authority for the exercise
and protection of the privacy of the individual.
The Minority was of the opinion that it was important for
the Bill to be separated to make it have full effect and
unambiguous to all concerned.
In his contribution to the motion, Mr Haruna Idrissu, NDC
member for Tamale South argued that the initial part of the
Bill ideally looked at national identification, while the
second part focused on the protection of the privacy of the
individual.
"In my mind, Mr Speaker, I believe that these are two
different issues that must be looked at separately as
contained in the opening statement in the memorandum to the
Bill. He said Chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution Article 18
(2) indicated clearly the non-interference in the privacy of
the individual and questioned what data was being protected.
He asked the Committee to look back and do a thorough work,
stressing that there were blank portions in the Report,
which must be quickly addressed.
Mr Idrissu had earlier asked the Committee to bring down the
age of qualification for registration to four years instead
of the six years being proposed, saying: "If left to me
alone I would even say that it should be six months."
Mr Mpiani said it was important for the age of qualification
for registering under the national identification programme
to conform with international standards.
"Mr Speaker we went round and solicited information on this
and I must say that the international standard is six years
and above."
Mr Idrissu said the development of the law should be guided
by history and the issue of citizenship must be examined
adequately.
Mr Edward Doe-Adjaho, NDC- Ave Avenor was not happy with the
fact that the National Identification Authority (NIA) was
going to become a parallel body that would determine who was
a Ghanaian and thus who could vote, since the Constitution
said anyone who had proof of Ghanaian citizenship could
register and vote.
"It is important for the Electoral Commission's role to be
taken through the backdoor and given to the NIA."
He described the Bill as welcome, adding that it was good to
develop an effective tax regime.
Other members welcomed the Bill and urged full support for
it since it had several benefits to society, saying it would
boost the nation's readiness in providing information on its
citizens when the need arose.
Winding up, Mr Mpiani said it would enhance the work the
Births and Deaths Registry, where unscrupulous persons went
about changing their names and acquiring vital national
documents at will.
He argued that it had nothing to do with partisan politics
and asked the minority not to kick against it.
GNA
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