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Civil Registration System
Ghana
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Ghana
Civil Registration System
National Civil Registration Agency
National Civil Registration Agency
National Level Agency
Does the law designate a national level agency responsible for civil registration?
Yes. National Office of the Births and Deaths Registry.
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The law should clearly establish an agency with responsibility for managing the civil registration system. The structure of the civil registration system varies across countries. Some countreis have a centralized system (controlled at the central government level). Others have a decentralised system (controlled at the sub-national government level). Often, control of the system is shared between the national government and subnational governments. However, even in a fully decentralized system, there should be an agency at the national level to enforce minimum standards or to work cooperatively with decentralized jurisdictions and offices to ensure generally uniform practices and procedures.
The authority for civil registration in Ghana is the National Office of the Births and Deaths Registry headed by a Registrar of Births and Deaths, appointed by the President. This Office resides under the Ministry responsible for local government (as of 2025,the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs), with that Minister having the power to make regulations on registration procedures.
Powers and Responsibilities of National Civil Registration Agency
Does the law provide for a uniform process to complete civil registrations across the country?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
To improve registration of vital events, legislation should provide for standardized and consistent processes for the notification of vital events throughout a country's jurisdiction.
The procedures for civil registration apply uniformly throughout Ghana. The Registration of Births and Deaths Act 2020 and its accompanying regulations apply to all births and deaths throughout the country.
Does the law estabish the head of the national civil registration agency? If yes, does the law grant sufficient powers to that person to effectively and efficiently implement the system?
Registrar of Births and Deaths. Powers established in the law.
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The head of the civil registration agency (often called the national registrar or registrar general) should be clearly set out in the law and should have sufficient power and authority to ensure that the civil registration system functions efficiently and effectively. These powers and responsibilities should include oversight and implementation of the civil registration system; participation in drafting of rules, regulations and instructions to promote uniform practice; delegation of registration responsibilities and powers to other officials; management and inspection of registration offices; conducting quality assurance monitoring and addressing areas of concern; assessing degree of coverage and establishing boundaries for local offices; hiring, management, and training of personnel; management of physical resources and technology; resolution of incidents and appeals; promoting the registration requirements to the public; receiving and compiling data; exchanging information with other agencies; and safekeeping records and archives.
The National Office of the Births and Deaths Registry is headed by a Registrar of Births and Deaths appointed by the President. Section 3 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act sets out the broad powers of the Registrar, who is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Registry and for maintaining national registers of births, deaths and fetal deaths. More specifically, the Registrar is responsible for receiving records from District Registrars, channeled through Regional Registrars; approving late birth and death registrations; signing birth certificates; providing guidelines for the registration of places of burial or other disposition of bodies; approving corrections of errors in the register of fetal deaths or deaths stemming from incorrect information in a coroner’s certificate; employing security protocols to ensure that Registry data is secured and accessed only by authorized persons; and sharing civil registration information with the Government Statistician. The Registrar and the District Registrars have the power to make corrections in any of the registers, and to share limited information from searches of registration and burial records.
Regulations are issued by the Minister responsible for local government rather than by the Registrar. The staff of the Births and Deaths Registry are appointed by the President rather than by the Registrar, but the Registrar is empowered, subject to the Minster’s approval, to issue an Instructions Manual to the staff on registration procedures. The Registrar also designates Registration Assistants for each zone in a district. The law is silent on the promotion of registration requirements to the public.
Does the law allow the national registrar to delegate powers and responsibilities?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The volume of work in most countries may require the head of the civil registration agency to delegate powers or functions to others. The law on civil registration should clearly define who may delegate authority, which duties may be delegated and to whom. It is important that the law identify the powers of delegation for the head of an agency, and clearly identify the persons to whom the head of civil registration agency can delegate powers and responsibilities. For example, the head of an agency might be authorized to delegate duties to the deputy head of the agency or to local registrars.
The Registrar of Births and Deaths may delegate any function to any officer of the Births and Deaths Registry, but retains ultimate responsibility for the performance of the delegated function.
