Tanzania: National ID Cards Come Aboard

 PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete has cautioned the National Identification Authority (NIDA) against issuing identity cards to foreigners, warning that stringent measures would be taken against those who will do so.

President Kikwete issued the warning when launching the long-awaited national ID cards. He stressed that he would not allow the IDs to be issued to foreigners as is the case with national passports, where some migration officials have been arraigned over the matter.

"A foreigner or refugee should not be given a resident mational ID Card. You should refrain from giving a person a national ID that they are not supposed to get just because they are giving you some money," President Kikwete stressed. The president also warned the Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA) to be vigilant, as there will be a scramble for birth certificates, as people register for the National ID cards.

He said the exercise will now be carried out jointly between NIDA and the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to reduce cost and repetition of public providing the same information, as well as ensure the exercise is completed before the 2015 general elections. He promised that his government would ensure that funds, facilities and human resources are available, challenges that have been hampering the issuing of the National IDs.

"I have talked with the Minister for Finance and his Permanent Secretary on the matter and they have assured me that this would be taken care of. We have no option but to make sure this is taken care of as soon as possible," he explained. He commended NIDA for fulfilling what he called "a long Tanzanian dream that has finally come true."

He noted that the process for Tanzanians to get National IDs started in the 1960s. However, a number of challenges hampered the implementation including lack of funds. The spectacular ceremony organized by NIDA at the Karimjee grounds yesterday, saw the president receive the first National ID card, followed by First Lady, Mama Salma Kikwete.

Former presidents, senior government officials, politicians, religious leaders and public representatives from Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Kilombero also got their IDs. More than 40 National ID cards were issued during the launch yesterday. Tanzanians have never had national identity cards