Ghanaians Urged to Register All Births and Deaths

A Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Collins Ntim, has urged Ghanaians to register every birth and death occurrence in their homes.

He said it was illegal for people not to register such occurrences, as records on birth and death give the government an understanding of the total population and guides in its developmental planning.

The Deputy Minister made the call at the launch of the 15th celebration of the Births and Deaths Registry in Accra.

Mr Ntim disclosed that the government had initiated some strategic actions to improve the performance of the organisation. These include a review of the registration of births and deaths law, computerization of births and deaths and the implementation of the community population register and mobile registration programmes.

The registration of births since 2004 had increased from 17 percent to 64 percent per annum while that of deaths was 20 per cent, he stated.

Against this background, he urged the media to lead the campaign to inform and educate Ghanaians on the benefits of timely reporting and registration of births and deaths.

For his part, the Acting Director General for Births and Deaths Registry, Mr John Agbeko, said that the registration of new born babies within the first year of birth was free, and therefore encouraged Ghanaians to take advantage of it to enable government to have the proper statistics for planning.

He warned against changing of dates of birth with the excuse that there were mistakes on the first registration would not tolerated by the registry, insisting that whatever first-hand information parents provide on their wards for entry into the system is maintained until the person dies.

Mr Agbeko urged Ghanaians not wait for emergency situations before visiting the registry to register their details.

Source: ISD (Chantal Aidoo & Aliyah Bayali)

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