The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Hon. Ahmed Ibrahim, has assured Parliament that stringent and collaborative measures are in place to prevent any future shortage of the specialized security paper used in printing biometric birth and death certificates.
The Minister acknowledged that the Births and Deaths Registry had recently experienced a severe nationwide shortage of the specialized paper, leading to public distress and a backlog of unprocessed applications.
Responding to an urgent question posed by Minority Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh, MP for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, the Minister emphasized that this is not an ordinary paper but a custom-produced document with multiple embedded security features, including optical character recognition, thermochromic ink, micro-text lines, and void protection.
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He attributed the shortage to delays in procurement processes, despite early warning signs.
“The Acting Registrar, upon assuming office in March 2025, observed that the available stock would be exhausted within weeks. A request was made to the Controller and Accountant General on April 3, followed by a reminder on April 15,” he said.
He added that the first batch of the security paper was finally delivered on July 9, 2025, after several follow-ups and interventions.
In a follow-up, Mr. Annoh-Dompreh pressed the Minister on why it took nearly four months from the initial request to final delivery. “If the concern was realized in March, why did it take this long to resolve it? Are there underlying issues that the Minister is not disclosing?” he asked.
Hon Ahmed Ibrahim acknowledged the delay but emphasized that it stemmed largely from funding constraints.
“Yes, it is true. We all operate within a budget envelope, and there are competing priorities. If the funds were readily available, we would not have had to send multiple reminders,” he candidly admitted.
The Minister outlined new measures to prevent a recurrence, including the institution of an Early Warning Stock Monitoring System, Collaboration with the Controller and Accountant General, and the Finance Ministry to initiate procurement processes earlier, Directives to prioritize pending applications at regional offices, and the Distribution of new paper supplies nationwide.
He explained that Birth Certificates are printed under the supervision of the Controller and Accountant General due to their high-security features, but declined to confirm the specific location or printer due to the sensitive nature of the documents.