NIA: Aisha Huang does not exist in our system

The National Identification Authority (NIA) has denied registering any applicant by name Aisha Huang.

According to the NIA, its National Identity Register (NIR) does not contain any record of a person named Aisha Huang.

“Put differently, the name Aisha Huang does not exist in the National Identification System (NIS) database”, the NIA said in a statement dated September 6, 2022.

The NIA explained that “On 26th February 2014, a Chinese woman named Huang En registered as a first time applicant for a foreigner identity card at the Foreigner Identification Management System (FIMS) registration centre at Nhyiaeso, Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region. Her biometrics were captured and she was issued with a Non-citizen Ghana Card.

She subsequently did two more renewals on 31st August 2016 and 8th January 2018, using the same details and Chinese passport number G39575625- Forename: En, Surname: Huang, Date of Birth: 07-Jul-86, Personal ID Number: CHN-010039480-J, Passport Number: G39575625.”

The statement continued that “On 25th August, 2022 at 10:35am, an incident occurred at the FIMS Registration Centre in Tamale, Northern Region, involving a Chinese national who visited the centre as a first-time applicant with the following details: Forename: Ruixia, Surname: HUANG, Date of Birth: 07-Nov-75, Passport Number: EJ5891162.

The registration, however, went into a technical state known as ‘RejectedDueAFIS’, which meant that the biometrics of Ruixia Huang possibly matched that of an already existing person in the NIS database.

The registration officer therefore sent a request to the technical support team for further investigations.

This revealed that, based on the biometrics provided, “Ruixia Huang” had previously registered as En Huang in the FIMS record under the NIS database. When confronted by the registration officer with this information, she claimed to have changed her name.

“As per NIA’s normal registration process, En Huang was asked to provide an official certified affidavit and a gazette as required by law to support the change of name if the details in the passport with number EJ5891162 were to be used to update her old records,” the NIA clarified.

Since she could not provide proper details to authenticate her new identity, NIA in the statement said:  “Huang En opted to renew with the old details and then go through the affidavit and gazette process later, after which she would then provide the documents for the update to be done.

Her renewed Non-Citizen Ghana Card was then issued to her on  August 25, 2022, bearing the old name.  This card is what is now impugned and trending on social media.”

“It must be emphasized that possession of the Non-Citizen Ghana Card does not confer or amount to having Ghanaian citizenship,” NIA clarified.

It said the NIA’s verification system functioned as designed to enable NIA prevent Huang En from registering under a new name and date of birth for a new Non-Citizen Ghana Card, despite her being in possession of two Chinese passports.