Policy implementation is one of the most critical stages of policymaking, which decides whether a policy will achieve its purpose or not. This stage of policymaking has been a matter of technical activity usually left to the reserve of bureaucrats and the so-called people of expertise. It is usually viewed as the simple translation of government programs into action. However, policy implementation in Ghana, just as in many other countries, involves a series of processes, actors, and negotiations within the so-called politics of implementation.

This thesis explores the politics involved in the implementation process in Ghana, using the National Identification System (NIS) Policy as a case study. The NIS is one of the few e-governance policies to be implemented in Ghana. Even though the idea of having a national database was conceived back in the early 1970s when the country embarked on a limited registration of Ghanaians living in the then border regions, its realization only came after a bumpy process in the country’s fourth republic.

The thesis uses the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to examine the relationship among the human and non-human ‘actors’ that influence the National Identification System and policy implementation in general. The theory allows for both human and non-human “actants” to be analyzed at the same level. 

The policy, being relatively new, has not been thoroughly explored to understand the politics that surround its implementation. Thus, exploring the politics of implementing the NIS is necessary for understanding the web of policy actors, their interactions with one another, and their impact on the policy and policy implementation in Ghana. This thesis is therefore significant in the sense that it depicts the key actors in the implementation process of the National Identification, how they relate with one another, and the impact they exert on the policy.

Policy implementation is one of the most critical stages of policymaking, which decides whether a policy will achieve its purpose or not. This stage of policymaking has been a matter of technical activity usually left to the reserve of bureaucrats and the so-called people of expertise. It is usually viewed as the simple translation of government programs into action. However, policy implementation in Ghana, just as in many other countries, involves a series of processes, actors, and negotiations within the so-called politics of implementation.

This thesis explores the politics involved in the implementation process in Ghana, using the National Identification System (NIS) Policy as a case study. The NIS is one of the few e-governance policies to be implemented in Ghana. Even though the idea of having a national database was conceived back in the early 1970s when the country embarked on a limited registration of Ghanaians living in the then border regions, its realization only came after a bumpy process in the country’s fourth republic.

The thesis uses the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to examine the relationship among the human and non-human ‘actors’ that influence the National Identification System and policy implementation in general. The theory allows for both human and non-human “actants” to be analyzed at the same level. 

The policy, being relatively new, has not been thoroughly explored to understand the politics that surround its implementation. Thus, exploring the politics of implementing the NIS is necessary for understanding the web of policy actors, their interactions with one another, and their impact on the policy and policy implementation in Ghana. This thesis is therefore significant in the sense that it depicts the key actors in the implementation process of the National Identification, how they relate with one another, and the impact they exert on the policy.