Acurrent rush for the new biometric NHIS cards is said to be creating confusion at various registration centers as people are alleged to be paying ‘bribes’ to avoid joining long queues. The new biometric registration system, which is said to register a maximum of 200 people per day, is creating long queues at the various registration centers as people are seen forming queues as early as 3:00 am. With these long queues coupled with the limited number of registrations per day, people are said to be paying registration officers GHS10.00 cedis to avoid joining the queues and be among those to be registered for the day. Despite the long queues that had formed at some of these centers, some people were seen by passing the queues and entering the offices only to appear and drive off after a few minutes. A beneficiary who spoke to Business Day explained that he had to pay GHS 10 cedis to avoid joining the queue. “I came in when they had just finished giving out the numbers. I pleaded with a worker to help me register for my son who was sick, but I had to pay 10 cedis to him before I had the card,” he added. “I’m registering for myself and my two children and now I have paid 10 cedis for each of us to a worker to get the cards registered, because I cannot join this long queue I will be late for work,” another stated. Another lady explained that though she had not paid herself, she had witnessed a lady who paid a sort of bribe to one of the workers to help her through. These actions by some of the officers is said to be causing confusion at these centers as those in the queues have expressed their displeasure at what they describe as “unfair” treatment by the NHIS officers handling the registration.
According to them, they wake up early to join queues in order to
be among the 200 to be registered for the day and as such it was unfair for others to pay money and skip the queue to be registered. “I came here as early as 3:00am to join the queue, so that my name will be added to the first 200 people who will be registered so it is unfair for people to pay and jump the line. That means that some of us will not be registered for that day”, an agitated beneficiary explained. ”We cannot wake up and come here to join a queue at dawn just for others to come in and pay extra amount for their cards to be registered for them without joining the queue, it does not show respect”, an elderly lady exclaimed. As at 5:30am when Business Day got to Amasaman NHIS registry office, people were already queuing even before the offices were opened. The authorities from Amasaman NHIS office explained that only 200 people can be registered in a day which includes pregnant women with their scanned pregnancy documents. This new directive from the head office, they say is due to the capacity of the biometric machine per day. The biometric registration enables people to receive their NHIS cards on the same day unlike the old system where one has to wait for a number of days before receiving the card. SSNIT personels pay 4 cedis for the renewal of their cards; children pay two cedis while others pay 22 cedis for a renewal. Per the new arrangement, applicants are numbered up to 200 for a day’s registration while the remaining ones are given numbers and asked to return the next day.
