Not all African countries require their citizens to carry a national identity card, but the number is rapidly increasing. ECOWAS Member States have committed to introduce a common-form biometric identity card by 2017. The introduction of these new systems may be based on concerns for national security or to improve delivery of public services: but for these aims to be achieved, law and procedures must ensure that people are not arbitrarily excluded from acquiring these documents.
Every citizen should have the right to a passport, enabling international travel, which should not be removed except following due process of law (for example, from a person accused of a serious crime).
Only some African countries establish an independent judicial procedure for a person to obtain a “certificate of nationality” or alternative document that is conclusive proof that a person is a national.
LUSAKA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) — Zambia and the African Union (AU) on Tuesday signed an agreement which allows the southern African nation to host the 5th International Conference for African Ministers responsible for civil registration and vital statistics. The conference…
BY BRENNA MATENDERE/JAIROS SAUNYAMA THE Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) has expressed concern over the high number of people without proper documentation, particularly national identity (IDs) cards and birth certificates, saying this infringed on people’s constitutional rights. ZHRC is conducting…
Victims risk being stateless since they are not recognised by the Kenyan government. by STEPHEN ASTARIKO, Correspondent, North Eastern In Summary The fingerprints of the affected Garissa residents were captured in the United Nations High Commission for Refugees database and…
By Patrick Beja More than 2,000 stateless members of the Pemba community living in Kilifi County want to be registered as Kenyans. The Pemba, who are traditionally fishermen from Pemba island of Zanzibar in Tanzania, claim they came to Kenya…
Le ministère tchadien de la Justice et des Droits humains et les Nations unies ont tenu ce jeudi 15 août 2019 une rencontre avec la société civile. L’objectif est de trouver une solution à la question de l’apatridie — c’est-à-dire…
Cletus Mushanawani Mashonaland Central Bureau Chief THE Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission has called for marginalised communities like the Doma people from Kanyemba in Mbire and other border areas to be assisted in obtaining identification documents. Speaking at the end of…
By Max Bearak MUKURU KWA NJENGA, Kenya — With a nonchalance only teenagers have, the 13-year-old shook out the contents of a tote bag onto the table in the one-room shack she shares with her grandmother. Certificates and medals tumbled out. Sarah…
Identity documents are a fundamental feature of modern daily life; they enable us all to participate in society and to access essential services and entitlements. Given the circumstances in which refugees are often forced to leave their home countries, their…
By Luka Biong Deng Kuol* When I was expelled from South Sudan in 2015 for organizing a public lecture at the University of Juba on the Presidential Decree to create 28 states, the government in Juba, in its response to…
Former Francistown Mayor, Peter Ngoma will contest the upcoming general elections at Tati East constituency under the Alliance for Progressives (AP) ticket. Ngoma who is currently a specially elected councillor in Francistown City Council recently dumped the ruling Botswana Democratic…