The Adjabeng District Court in Accra has fined two women, Olu Olarusi Toyin Tracy, aka Tracy Mensah; and Yvette Mensah, a sum GHS3,600 each or in default serve a six-month jail term for providing false information to the National Identification Authority (NIA) for the acquisition of a Ghana card.

The two were charged for conspiracy to commit crime, providing false information to the officials of NIA contrary to Section 23(1) of Act 29/60 and Section 17(c) of the National Identification Authority Act, 707 (Act 2000) and providing false information to NIA officials.

The two pleaded guilty to the charges when they appeared before the court on Monday, 22 November 2021.

In addition to the GHS3,600 fine, the court has ordered that Ms Toyin be repatriated to her country of origin.

Ms Toyin visited the NIA’s head office to acquire a Ghana card on Friday, 19 November 2021 accompanied by Ms Mensah.

She provided a birth certificate as part of the documents required for the acquisition of the card.

Both were directed to go through the usual vetting that most applicants are subjected to before being allowed to go through the registration process.

The birth certificate provided indicated Ms Mensah as the mother of the applicant and Alhassan Fuseini, a Ghanaian as the father.

The birth certificate was issued on Friday, 22 October 2021 at the Bubuashie office of the Birth and Death Registry.

It also had registration number 020107-3879-2021 with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital as the place of birth.

It was, however, revealed during investigations by the Police Investigation Unit of the NIA that Ms Toyin’s biological parents are both Nigerians and only contacted Ms Mensah to play the role of a mother on her birth certificate to aid her acquisition of the card.

The two are also not related.

The two were charged with the offences and arraigned.

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